Kara Storm met Maximum Ride
by tukatarina
Summary: Someone had to make sure that the DNA fusion would work. And what happens when the originals meet up with Maximum Ride and her flock? Anger is flared and kisses are given out, but in the end will it all work out? James Patterson owns his characters. R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** For those who have started reading this when originally published, the reloaded chapters are mostly just fixing mistakes I found while re-reading the story. Grammar and spelling are being fixed, as well as original contradictions within the story.

Also, for the purpose of this fanfiction, we're pretending any book after Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (aka bookas 4-current) never happened.

Sadly James Patterson own his characters, because if I did the story would have turned out differntly.

Happy Readings!

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I looked towards the morning sky, squinting as the sun hit my eyes. "What are you doing?" asked a voice behind me. I turned around to see my twin brother Eion standing there, his curly brown hair looking limp and dusty. _I have to get us to a shower soon_, I thought to myself.

"Just looking at the bright sky," I told him. He stared at me, knowing that I was lying to him. I really was looking at the bright sky, but in search of something.

"What?" I asked innocently. He just stared at me and I stared back at him. Finally he gave up and turned around back to the cave where we were currently hiding in. I followed him, knowing very well that the rest would be waking up soon. So far the only one that was awake besides Eion, was Caleb, my little monkey. "What are you doing up so early?" I asked him. He stared up with his bright blue eyes, full of joy and happiness.

"Is this early?" he asked. I knew he was referring to our wacky sleeping schedule. I just laughed and ruffled his short strawberry blond hair.

Within an hour the rest of them awoke. As Jinx started up breakfast, I sat on a rock looking at my family setting up the table, or floor, which ever you want. My family consisted of five of us. Me, Kara; the leader of the group, Eion my 16 year old identical twin brother and actual only blood sibling, as my second in command; Jinx, who was 9 and mute (though that never stopped her from trying to "talk" a.k.a. sign language & mind reading); Cole who was very dangerous for an 14 year old; and my little monkey, Caleb, who was 6 and could move faster than the speed of light. I mean doesn't your six year old move that fast?

When growing up, we didn't live with our parents in a house or have family outings or anything like that; no we grew up in a different world. We all grew in our very own dog crates. Normal right? We grew up in a laboratory called the Emporium, as subjects of experiments based on the genetic fusion, or combination of two different genes into one. For example my family and I are 96% human and 4% avian. In other words, before we were born, they grafted the bird DNA into our genes, making us special. For twelve of my years I lived there, seeing experiments fail and die. We were the oldest living experiments every, most didn't survive past two years. Well us and another experiment. I shuddered at the thought of those monsters. They were made for one purpose only and that was to kill.

I must have shuddered out visibly instead of mentally because suddenly Jinx was next to me holding my hand. _Are you okay Kara?_ She thought/asked me. _Yep, just a little chilly,_ I thought back to her. She smiled at me and got back to making breakfast.

Now as the leader it should be my job to cook, right? Well I don't, not just because I have burned everything possible, including lettuce (long story), but because Jinx enjoys making food for everyone. It makes her feel useful, or so she says. I looked up to see Eion staring at me. I gave him a look that said _what?_ He walked over and sat next to me, still staring. "I was just reading your emotions and you're very stressed and worried" he whispered to me. Oh yeah, Eion has the ability to read emotions of people and control them, very handy when a six year old ate his ice cream so fast that it looks like he inhaled it.

"Is that new?" I asked him, because taking care of four children at sixteen, not knowing where the next meal will come from isn't stressful enough.

"No, but a few minutes ago you were calm, and now your all tense again." Then in a lower voice he asked, "Is it because we haven't seen any e…"I clapped my hand over his mouth.

"Don't say that word" I hissed at him. "If they're hearing, they'll get worried." I took away my hand and he nodded. It was so easy to explain things to him, he was so understandable. I leaned against the hard stone wall and closed my eyes.

"Well is it?" he asked again. I just nodded my head in agreement. I continued to lean back with my eyes closed just resting next to him, when I heard Eion start walk away, stopping suddenly and saying to me, "You don't have to worry Kara; I'll protect you and the group no matter what. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you guys, right?" I got up and opened my eyes. I looked at him and saw the seriousness in his dark green eyes. I walked over and gave him a hug. As he hugged me back, I whispered in his ear "Yeah, I know."

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**A/N: **So here's the first chatper! Tell me what you think. Flames are welcomed and encouragment adored.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

While we ate our breakfast (a hotdog without the bun, but that didn't stop them from adding ketchup and mustard) I could tell Eion was still watching me. He was probably making sure I didn't start stressing so much that he would have to calm the mood, making the kids nervous. "So, did you all sleep well?" I asked everyone, moving his attention of me.

"Yep I slept great!" chirped Caleb. "I had a dream that we were all at the beach. Kara was playing with Jinx and me in the water, and Eion and Streak were on the beach making sand castles!" he told us happily. I looked over at Cole, who we often called Streak because of the unusual streaks of bronze in dark hair, side effects of an experiment.

"Did you dream anything last night?" I asked him. He just shook his head in silence. I looked over at Eion worried. He just nodded his head, our way of saying I'll work on it. Streak was very quiet for a fourteen year old, that's one reason why he's so dangerous. Well all have keen sense, but Streak walks so soft that even we can't tell when he is moving. Sometimes he would go days without really saying much and his long hair kept his eyes covered when he had his head a certain way. In a way, it helped him, but I never knew what he was thinking or feeling.

After breakfast, I walked outside to lie on the cool grass. I picked a tree, close enough to be able to see and hear anything that happened around our little hideaway. It wasn't until now that I really took a look at where we were. We had arrived here last night about midnight so you couldn't really see anything, but now the place looked amazing. The trees were lush and green. The air smelled of pine, mostly because that was one of the only tree that was in this forest. In front of our cave was a little clearing perfect for sleeping outdoors and a camp fire. The place looked so peaceful that it made you feel like you didn't have anything to worry about. It was that, or Eion was playing with people's emotions again.

Of course the tranquil illusion didn't last long, because Jinx stomped out of the cave with Caleb running to catch up to her. Streak just leaned against the rock wall, looking at the quarrel. I got up and went to go see what the problem was. _"Kara,_ Jinx thought to me, _"If you don't shut Caleb up, I am going to hang him upside down in a tree"_ My leader instincts told me that something was bugging her. "No one is hanging anyone upside down until I know what happened." I told her. She rolled her eyes and I looked down at Caleb, who was frozen in fear at the thought of being hung upside down. "Okay, know who wants to tell me what happened?" I asked them. The both started talking at once. It's not a good feeling having to listen to a six year old talk, while you have a nine year old screaming in your head. "Ahh! I screamed. "One at a time, Jinx you first." I looked at her, she suddenly looked extremely happy.

"_Well, I was going to use the computer, because Eion said I could, to look at recipes that I could look at, when suddenly Caleb dropped his water over the laptop. Then it made a ziz noise and the screen turned black." _She looked extremely pleased with herself as she finished her side of the story. The computer she was referring about was the one we swiped from the Emporium right before we escaped. Every five minutes or so the computer changed IP addresses, so it was practically untraceable. I looked down at Caleb who was staring at Jinx.

"You dropped water on the computer?" I asked him. When I looked at him quizzically, he started talking really fast.

"I-I- didn't mean to sp-p-ill water over the laptop. Besides I wouldn't have fallen if J-jinx hadn't had he-r-r legs out." Great, he was stuttering, he only did that when he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Okay, Okay" I told him trying to calm him down. "I'll see what happen, and see if it's really broken." That cheered him up a little. I went back to the cave, and paused in front in Streak. "Can you fix it?" I asked him, knowing that he knew what the problem was, since he was the tech-genius in the group.

"Of course I can fix it" he said with a small smile on his face. I stared at him, partially amazed that he just hadn't responded with a nod, partially because he knew who to fix it but let the other two battle it out anyway.

"You knew what was wrong and you didn't say anything?" I asked him.

"Well, I didn't want to deprive you of you leader role. Besides I wanted to see if there was going to be any tree hanging" he told me. I looked at him angrily.

"Just fix the thing" I told him annoyingly. For someone who was usually silent, he was so annoying.

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**A/N: **Tada! New chapter! So please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Eion's POV

I watched as my sister handled the latest problem. I could feel how stressed she was getting, but at the same time a sense of relief went through her. Don't ask me why, but sometimes it seemed that she enjoyed the way the rest of the group would get into fights with one another. I let my eyes wander around the camp. Caleb was watching in awe as Streak dissembled the computer. Jinx and Kara were in a discussion, about something. I looked at our small group and sighed remembering back when we weren't such a small group. There used to be six of us, before one was taken. It happened over two years ago, but I still hear Kara mumble about it in her sleep. She blamed herself for losing Karlie in New York, when really it was the Emporium who did it. She was probably locked in a cage at the Institute of…. I stopped thinking about it. I got up from under the tree I was sitting at, and went to go see if I could help Streak.

"I knew the circuit board wasn't fried" Streak mumbled when I reached him.

"I never said it was. I just suggested it." I pointed out to him. We started to rebuild the laptop again, or msotly Streak started to rebuild the laptop again, I just handed him the tools. I made sure it was up and running and handed it back to him. I got up and went to go drink from my canteen, when suddenly I felt panic coming from Kara. I rushed over to her. "What is?" I asked her.

"Shh, listen" she whispered. I did and I heard a low whistle sound. I practically froze.

"Its sounds like many of them," I whispered to her. She nodded. She turned around to see that the kids had stopped what they were doing, and they too where now listing to the whistling noise. They all looked at us in confusion. "Flyboys" Kara whispered. They all stared back at us in shock.

"We better do something and fast" I told her. She nodded.

"They're to close to run from, we're going to have to fight" she said solemnly.

"Okay, everybody listen." Kara called out. We gathered around her. "We'll go with plan zeta," she said, taking control and keeping a calm face. "Remember, look after one another's back. If you get hurt or too scared to fight, come back to the cave. Got it?" she asked. Everyone just shook their heads in agreement. "Right, lets do this" she murmured to no one in particular. She took a few steps back before she ran forward, leaping up into the air and sprining her wings open. I looked in awe as the sun reflected of her light brown, white streaked wings. It didn't last long, for one by one we started to spring up. After Kara was Jinx with her dark brown, white speckled wings, then Streak who's wings were a so dark, they were almost black; Caleb, with pure white wings and lastly, me with my white and brown streaked, the opposite of Kara's wings.

Once I was over the trees, I saw them. They were more of them than I had anticipated, a lot more. From where we were, it looked like a big storm cloud coming our way. I looked at Kara gravely. She just looked at me, unscarred, but I knew the truth, she was scared out of her mind. Within minutes, the storm hit.

The flyboys came at us in bunches. One of them came right at me, but I managed to doge it and hit it in the lower back, their weak spot. I didn't have time to rejoice, because another one came at me instantly. I quickly did a spin-kick, knocking it into another one. Suddenly, I heard a scream. I turned to see Jinx, being thrown into a bag. No! Before I could get to her, I was attacked from behind. I dropped a couple of feet, but quickly regained myself. I kicked it hard in the face. I turned around to find that Jinx and Caleb were missing. I quickly scanned the perimeter to see two flyboys with sacks over their shoulders. I was making my way towards them, when I heard a low, groan. I turned around, just in time to see my sister being injected with something. She suddenly looked limp and fell. I started to drop, trying to catch up to her, but I got hit with a flyboy. There was no way we would win this battle.

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**A/N: **As always, I own my characters! James Patterson owns his.

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Kara's POV

The battle against the flyboys wasn't looking so good. Jinx and Caleb were no where to be seen. I began to think that it was the end, but quickly stopped. As the leader it was my job never to quit. I started making my way through the flyboys, hitting everything in my path, to get to Streak. I was almost there, when something grabbed me from behind. I tried to get free, but it was no use. Another one came up next to the one that was holding me and stabbed me with something. I felt the needle penetrate my skin and I let out a groan. I felt myself getting weaker and weaker. Immediately, my wings folded themselves in and I could feel myself dropping. I tried to stay awake, put whatever was in the syringe was starting to make effect. The last thing I remember seeing was, my brother, Eion, dropping to catch me. But I knew it was no good, he was too far away. I closed my eyes and lost consciousness. This battle was lost.

When I came to, I heard two unfamiliar voices. One belonged to a girl, black and super curly hair; the other was to a boy with blue eyes and blond hair. "Oh Gazzy look, I think she's waking up. Maybe she won't remember her name. Maybe she's a lost camper and we're going to be rewarded for finding her! Maybe…" the girl said excitedly.

"Shut up, Nudge," said the boy, whose name was Gazzy. What kind of names were Gazzy and Nudge? I heard myself moan as I tried to get up. Normally, I would have thought of myself as being pathetic, but considering the circumstances, I didn't. Then I remembered the fight, Jinx and Caleb missing. I stood up, a bit to fast, for I suddenly became disoriented. I quickly recovered myself to find that the two children were still there. Checking to see my wings were hidden, which they thankfully were, I decided to try and figure things out. Like who they were, what they were doing and mostly importnatly, how dangerous were they?

"Um, hi" I said.

"Hi, I'm Nudge and this is Gazzy, he's the one who found you. Are you okay, what's your name? Why were you lying on the ground? Did you fall asleep? Are you lost?" Nudge babbled at once.

"Woah, kid slow down." I told her, putting my hands up. "No, I'm not lost. No, I didn't fall asleep and I'm okay." Deciding they were no threat, I started to walk toward where the cave have should been. I turned to see that Nudge and Gazzy were following me. "Don't you have, like parents?" I asked them. They shook their heads. Great, they were probably runaways. I really didn't need this right now, but they reminded me too much of my family and I couldn't just leave them. "Are you hungry?" I asked them. They shook their heads eagerly. "You better follow me, then," I said. I saw them both stop. Gazzy started whispering something in Nudge's ear. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you," I told them. They just kept whispering to each other. I tapped my foot impatiently on the ground. I really don't have time for this, I thought to myself. Yet I couldn't let myself leave them here. Nudge reminded me a lot of Jinx and Gazzy reminded me of Karlie. My stomach tightened at the thought of Karlie. "We'll go with you, on one condition," said Gazzy.

"Okay what is it?" I asked him, hoping it would be quick.

"We get to bring the rest of our family," he said. Great, if he didn't have parents, then that meant that his 'family' consisted of other kids. Suddenly the similarities between them and me were getting too close.

"How many more are there?" I asked him.

"Four," he counted.

"Fine, just hurry up" I told him. He smiled and raced of. "Where is he going?" I asked Nudge.

"He's going to get Max and the rest. Don't worry, they're not far away," she assured me.

Minutes went by; when suddenly I heard bushes rustle. I had been sitting on a rock, staring up at the sky, so when the bushes rustled I practically fell of the rock. I quickly leaped up, standing in a stance that would let me pounce if it turned out to be an Eraser. It turned out to be Gazzy, so I relaxed quickly before he could ask me what I'd been doing. "So, are they coming?" I asked him. Before he could answer me, I heard voices coming from the direction that he'd come in.

"Gazzy where are you?" said a voice. It sounded a lot older than Gazzy's.

"I'm over here," Gazzy shouted.

"Oh yeah, that really helps me," said the voice sarcastically.

"Sorry, Ig's" Gazzy said. A tall, pale boy with strawberry blond hair stepped out of the trees and into the clearing where we were waiting.

"The rest are coming. Angel had to tie her shoe so they sent me ahead to keep up with you," he explained. I'm going to guess that Angel was a little girl who took a while to tie her shoe. I huffed; I really had to get back to the cave, like now. If anyone had escaped the fight, they would be waiting by the cave. The tall boy turned towards me.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Oh, that's the girl who I told you about," Gazzy told him.

"My name is Kara," I told them, not really knowing why I'd shared my real name.

"Nice to meet you Kara, I'm Iggy," the boy said. That was a weird name too.

"Nice to meet you too," I told him, just to be poliet becuase I honestly didn't care. I studied his face for a while. The color of his eyes was like a pale gray, it dawned on me that this guy was blind. Not that I had a problem with blind people, it just seemed kind weird that a blind guy would be traveling with some kids. The back of my neck prickled and I turned around to find a guy who was probably about two inches taller than me and wearing all black, standing there. Next to him emerged a little girl with blond hair, and another girl about 14. "So is this everybody?" I asked Gazzy. He nodded. I turned back to the three who had just arrived, "Hi. I'm Kara, and you are?" I asked them. The girl about fourteen stepped up; she seemed to be the leader of the group.

"I'm Max and this is Angel," she said while putting a hand on the little girl. "And that's Fang," she said nodding to the boy in black. He nodded. Okay, this was definitely a weird group who all had weird names.

"Right, okay, can we go now?" I asked them. They all nodded their heads. I turned around and started to walk toward the cave once more. Behind me I could hear them whispering.

"Can we trust her?" asked a boy, probably the one in black.

"We have too, she has food. Besides, Gazzy says they found her unconscious, so she can't really be bad, can she" whispered the girl named Max.

"Maybe you should concentrate on why she was unconscious" whispered the boy back.

"You know what Fang, maybe we should just trust her. Angel says there is nothing off about her. She's not planning on killing us," whispered Max harshly.

"Yet," mumbled Fang.I couldn't help but think that this was going to be a really long day.

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**A/N: **Yes! The Flock has finally arrived! It may have taken four chapters, but hey.

James Patterson own his characters. I own mine.

Please review! Or else. :D


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Kara's POV

We arrived back to my camp in a matter of minutes. When we got there, my hopes of finding anyone vanished. The camp was exactly the way we had left it when we went to go fight the flyboys. I sighed and went to go see what we had left. My plan was to feed these kids, and when they fell asleep, ditch them and go find Eion and the gang. There was no way I was going to let the scientist touch anyone of my family.

I scavenged through the backpacks. We still had a bunch of sausages left, some apples, canned fruits and vegetables and about four water bottles. Oh and a couple of granola bars, enough food for ten average people. I came out of the cave holding the four plastic water bottles. "Sorry I only have four water bottles. There's a river very close by, with clear drinkable water," I told them. I handed the bottles and the canteens to the girl, Max. She took them and started handing them out to her group.

"Fang, go fill up the bottles. We can share with the rest." She told the boy. He nodded and looked at me, obviously waiting for directions on where to go.

"The river is about 3min. east of here." I told him, pointing the direction he was supposed to go. He nodded, grabbed the water bottles and headed off. I turned back to the rest of their group. "Do any of you know how to start a fire?" I asked. Iggy nodded. I didn't think that that would be a good idea, letting the blind one start the fire.

Angel, the little girl with curly blond hair and big blue eyes, answered my questions, "Don't worry, he's very good with matches," she assured me. I shrugged.

"Okay, we're going to need a small campfire, to cook the food. The campfire place is at ten o'clock from where you're standing." He nodded and got to work on the fire. "Want to help me bring out the food?" I asked everyone else.

"Actually, Angel and I'll help. Gazzy and Nudge, you two go find some firewood." She instructed. Gazzy and Nudge both nodded and ran off into the woods. I led Max into the cave; Angle had decided to go with the other two. "Looks comfortable," she said, trying to make small talk.

"You have no idea," I told her.

"Oh, I bet I do," she said laughing. I looked at her curiously, and then shrugged. I led her to where the backpacks and computer was. "How come there are five backpack?" she asked. I decided to ignore the question, and started to hand her food. She didn't press for an answer.

Within the hour, we had the fire going and the food set. "Okay, we have sausages, canned fruits and vegetables, a couple of apples and a few granola bars," I said while placing the food on the ground. I passed out paper plates and napkins to everyone. "Well, dig in" I said. Gazzy and Iggy immediately went for the sausages. Nudge, who turned out to be a vegetarian went for the apples and granola bars. Max was helping Angle put a sausage on a fork, so she could roast it. Fang grabbed an apple and started chewing on it. I sat down and grabbed a granola bar. Amazingly I wasn't very hungry. I ate my granola bar and took a couple of sips from my canteen. I laid back against the entrance of the cave and watched them all eat. My mind went back to this morning, when my family was whole and we were having breakfast. _I may never have breakfast with them again_, I thought. I could feel my eyes start to burn, tears threathening to spill. I quickly wiped them away. I hadn't cried in seven years, and I sure wasn't going to start now, especially in front of strangers.

"Man, that was good," said Gazzy after everyone had gotten their fill. I then learned why they called him the Gasman. "Sorry," he said apologetically. Note to self; stay upwind. "Where's the bathroom?" he asked me.

"Pick a tree, any tree. As long as it's a good distance away from camp and it won't run into the river," I told him. He blushed a little.

"I'll go with you Gazzy," offered Iggy.

"Thanks," Gazzy mumbled. They got up and left.

"I better go with them," sighed Fang. Max nodded in agreement and he left.

"So, where are you guys from?" I asked Max, while I started picking up.

"California."

"Wow, that's pretty far from here Louisiana," I commented. No wonder they where so hungry, coming all the way from California. I sighed to myself and put the trash into a plastic bag. I surprised myself by asking her, "Would you like to stay the night, here?" My new plan, which I formed while they ate, was to just have them go away to wherever they'd originally been. I'd already feed them, so there was no need for me to offer shelter. But I'd already asked the question before I could stop myself. She looked at me cautiously.

Angel, who was sitting at the campfire stood up and said, "Wow, that would be great, thanks" Max shot her a look, but Angel ignored it. Okay, these people where totally starting to freak me out.

Night arrived and we prepared for bed. I told them I was going to stay up look at the stars a bit, but to go to bed since they looked exhasuted. Fang looked at me critically, but Max agreed with me. Iggy and the younger kids were the first to fall asleep. Max and Fang stayed up a while and talked. I really hope they'd fall asleep fast. _I need to get out of here and look for my family_, I kept thinking. It had been more than six hours since the fight, and six hours was plenty of time for the scientist to do something horrible. I shivered at the thought. Finally, Max left to go to sleep and Fang followed. I stayed on watch for about another hour, just to make sure everyone was asleep. I decided I was going to take the big backpack, the one Eion used to carry around the laptop. I placed the laptop inside, along with the digital camera, Jinx "borrowed", from someone in Indiana. I grabbed my canteen and some granola bars and stuffed them in my bag. I did it all quietly; to make sure I didn't wake anyone up.

I went into the clearing, and took a running start, since that was the best way to get a good wind and lapped into the air. I was about to snap my wings open, when something grabbed on to my legs. I turned to see Fang, grabbing on to me. We both fell with a thump, and I kicked him in the face and he let go of my legs. I scrambled up and started to run into the trees, when he slammed into me and pinned me to a tree. "Where do you think you're going?" he snarled at me. I ignored him and tried to push him off me. It would have worked, had he not been taller than me and stronger than I had expected him to be. Something told me that, he wasn't a normal human.

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**A/N:** Sooo what do you think? Review and I will reply.

All characters are owned by respective owners.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Fang's POV

We sent the kids and Iggy to bed, knowing they were exhausted. Max and I along with that other girl Kara stayed up longer. Kara said she was going to look at the stars, which was basically first watch. I totally didn't want to agree, but Max kept saying that the voice, a.k.a. Jeb, said that we should trust her. So I agreed, but there was no way I was sleeping while she was on watch.

I proved my suspicions about her right, about an hour later. I was just staring at the top of the cave, listening to Max breathe, when I heard shuffling near the entrance. I closed my eyes slightly and pretended to be asleep, I saw and heard Kara stuff away her things into a backpack. I got up ever so slow to get a better view. She put her bag on and walked into the clearing. I got up, ready to follow her, when I saw her start running. I quickly ran at her, just as she leaped into the air and grabbed her leg. Instantly, we both fell to the ground. She turned around to look at me, but she wasn't surprised it was me. With her other leg, she kicked me in the face. I hadn't expected that to happen or the force of the kick, so I was totally unprepared. I let go of her legs and she got up and started running into the trees. I probably would have lost her, had I been a normal person. I got up and charged at her, slamming her into a tree. I grabbed her wrist and pinned her to the tree. "Where do you think you're going?" I snarled at her. She ignored me and tried to push me off, but I held on tighter. "Where were you going?" I asked her once more. She faced me and stared at me hatefully with her dark green eyes.

"None of your damn business" she said snapped. Yeah, right. This was totally my business. A twig cracked behind us, making both of us jump. It was Max and Iggy.

"Fang, what are you doing?" Max asked me. She looked at Kara, then back to me. Realization dawned on her. "Iggy, go back to the cave and get me some rope," she said angrily. Iggy nodded and turned back towards camp. She looked back at us and went on full protective mode. "Who are you and why are you here?" she asked Kara. Kara turned her head and stared at Max angrily.

"None of your damn business," she snapped again. Iggy came back with the rope, and handed it to Max.

"What are we doing with the rope?" he asked. I had been wondering the same thing.

Max took the rope, "We're going to tie up our hostess, see if we can get some answers."

We tied Kara up to the tree; it took a long time, seeing how she almost managed to escape twice. The first time, I made the mistake of letting her go; the second time a rock appeared out of nowhere and almost hit Iggy's head.

"Now, time to give us some answers" I told Kara.

"I would rather die then spill anything, you no good son of a" she started angrily. Iggy quickly intervened before anything else could be said.

"Why don't you just check her stuff?" he asked. I looked down at Kara and saw fear in her eyes, but only momentarily. I kneeled down and opened her bag. Taking out the laptop, I turned it on. The screen turned blue and a picture turned up on the desktop. The picture contained six people; a younger looking Kara and a boy who looked like her; next to them stood a boy with dark hair with bronze streaks. Next to him was a black girl with curly hair, like Nudge and another girl with reddish brown hair, who looked familiar and lastly, there was a little boy about four years old with blond hair. They where all standing in front of the Statue of Liberty. I turned the computer for Max to look. She looked as puzzled as I felt. We turned to look at Kara, who was staring at the picture, a single tear rolling down her face.

Who the hell was this girl?

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**A/N:** Oh goodness. So much for seven years of no crying, huh? But jeez, Fang is such a meanie.

Anyway, same ol' copy right message.

Review, please and thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Kara's POV

Okay, I finally cracked. One look at the picture and I cracked. It didn't matter that I was tied to a tree or that strangers were there, I started to cry. I looked at the picture on the desktop, at my family's happy faces and felt so broken, so uncomplete. The picture was taken in New York, about two years ago, the day before Karlie was kidnapped. We had used the camera Jinx had stolen and asked a random stranger if they would take a picture. Apparently Max and Fang hadn't expected this, because they were shocked. I had to get out of here; I had to go save my family. It was all I could think about. Yet, here I was tied to a tree. I hung my head to hide my tearing eyes. "Let me go," I mumbled. I stared up at them and said much louder, "Let me go." I screamed, hearing how desperate I sounded, but that didn't matter. I stared at them with my watery eyes and I could feel the hatred in my stare. I hated them; I hated them almost as much as I hated the scientist who had experimented on us. They were keeping me away from my family. "Let me go," I practically yelled, as I kicked a rock at them. It didn't go very far, considering I was tied to a tree, but it snapped them back into reality. Max kneeled down so that we were eye to eye. I stared at her and she stared back at me.

"Where are you going?" she asked me, never looking away from my eyes.

"Away" I started to mumble.

"What do you need?" she asked me.

"I need to go to let me go so I can go save my family," I said as I looked away from her.

"Is that them? Are they the ones on your computer?" she asked slowly. I nodded, feeling like I was basically betraying the promise of secreacy. "Why do you need to go save them," she asked simply. I thought about what I was going to say to her. If I gave to much information away, that could put my family at risk. Yet something inside me, told me that they would understand.

"I need to go save them from people who want to harm them," I whispered, "From the very people that created us."

I could feel their eyes staring at me. Did they think I was lying to them? "Who created you?" asked Iggy. I looked up at him surprised; I had forgotten that he was here. I nodded, only to remember that that was no good.

"Yes" I whispered my voice shakey. I looked back at Max and Fang, who where looking at each other, then back at me. Max shook her head, obviously they where having a silent conversation. Fang, set the notebook aside and went to my tree and pulled out his pocket knife. I gasped, for I thought he was going to kill me. Instead he cut the ropes with one movement of his arm. I got up slowly; I had lost feeling in my legs sometime ago. I realized that this was my chance to escape, but I didn't. Instead I looked at Max.

"Show us how you are different," she instructed me. I looked at her astonished, but did as she said. Slowly, I stretched out my wings; that I had been holding in tightly to my back, since I had meet Gazzy and Nudge this morning, enjoying a feeling of relief as my feathers aligned themselves correctly. My wingspan was about fourteen and a half feet, since I was almost 5' 7", tip to tip, Eion's where bigger, but he was also taller. I looked back at Max, who looked stunned and confused all at once. She took of her gray sweatshirt and what happened next surprised me. She shrugged her shoulders and her wings came out graciously as mine had.

I stared at her and she stared back at me, "I think there are things that are meant to be explained," I told her and she nodded.

* * *

**A/N:** Secrets have been revealed! But will this unite them? Or drive them further apart? Keep reading to find out!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Kara's POV

We headed back to camp, and built up the fire. Max told Iggy to go back to sleep, but he said he was old enough to stay awake and listen. Max rolled her eyes at him, not that that did anything and agreed to let him stay. We sat around the campfire, not saying anything for along time. All you could hear was the wood crackle as it burned, and the noisy insects. Suddenly I remembered something important, "Sorry about the rock that almost smashed you in the face," I apologized to Iggy. He looked at me stunned.

"That was you?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I apologized again.

"How'd you do it?" he asked me.

"Telekinesis."

"How do you have telekinesis!" he asked me astonished.

"I really don't know, probably a side effect from the experimenting," I said. He thought about it and shrugged.

"So, you anything else besides avian?" asked Fang calmly. I shook my head, "nope."

There was another awkward silence. I thought about all I read in the files that had come with the laptop. About other experiments, and what happened to them. I remembered reading one on an avian hybrid, subject eleven. "Are any of you Subject Eleven? I asked them. They all looked up from what they were doing.

"How do you know about Subject Eleven?" asked Max defensivly.

"It's Angel, isn't it. The little blond girl." I said ignoring Max's question. Iggy nodded in response. He realized that neither Max nor had Fang answered.

"Was she not supposed to know?" He asked.

"No," said Fang. Everything that I had learned about the avian hybrids and old, locked away memories came rushing back to me.

"You're Maximum Ride, Jeb's daughter, aren't you?" I asked Max.

"Maybe. How do you know Jeb?" she asked briskly and rather defensively.

"He worked in the place where I grew up" I told her. "I mean where we grew up. I've seen you before, all of you. In California." They all stared at me. They obviously didn't know what I was talking about. I sighed and started to tell them everything.

"Sixteen years ago, me and my brother were "submitted" into the Emporium, or School as I think you call it. We were born with avian grafted into our DNA; we're 96% human, 4% bird." I began.

"Wait, you're 96% human?" interrupted Max.

"Yeah, what about you?" I asked back.

"98%," she answered.

"I would have guessed that," I told her. She looked at me questionably.

"You really think that Jeb, would put his only daughter through an experimental design? That's why there were two groups; nothing happened to you unless it happened to us first," I told her. That must have stung her, because she quickly looked away from me.

"How do you know that?" asked Iggy.

"Well" I started to explain to him, "If you think about it, Angel is Subject Eleven, meaning that there had to be ten others before her. Gasman would have been ten, then everyone else fills in by age, leading up to Eion whose one." Iggy thought about it.

"But, what about the little boy, the one that was in the picture?" asked Max.

"Caleb is six; he's probably younger than Angel. He is subject fourteen," I told her.

"About a year or so later, they added four new people our group. At first we, meaning you, Fang, Iggy, Eion, Streak and I where all together in the same room, then they (meaning the mad scientist) split us up. That's when the testing began. The years past and more got added to both groups. Eion and I became in charge of our small group, from the beginning we knew it was going to be rough. When we were aloud outside to walk around, we occasionally get a glimpse at you guys. Let me tell you, we were so jealous. You guys got it way easier than we did. And, you also had Jeb." I stopped to take a drink from my canteen. I looked at Fang; he seemed to be processing the information, putting pieces together. "When you guys escaped, we were so mad. Jeb had taken you, even though we were way better than all of you. We were faster and smarter, and we knew it. Everyone in the labs said so. You guys only got special treatment because of Max. Max was Jeb's daughter and was designed to save the world." I stopped talking, trying to get my emotions in check. Whenever I used to think about this, I would get furious. I always blamed them for everything that happened. Of course, as I grew older, I learned it wasn't their fault, but it helped getting mad at them.

"I'm sorry" whispered Max. I looked at her bewildered.

"What for?" I asked her.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that, because of me." She said. Fang got up and sat next to her. She leaned her head against him. I smiled, they looked good together.

"Don't be sorry Max; I know it's not your fault. Actually, the last three years, I thanked you." I told her. She looked at me as if I was crazy. I leaned back and looked up at the night sky.

"We had escaped, the school, a couple of days after you left. It wasn't really hard. Nobody thought that a bunch of kids could do it." I started at her once more.

"We were hunted for about a year, everyday, we where on the run. We never slept in the same place for more than a couple of hours. Then, one day, the Erasers didn't come. They gradually started to come less and less. We would go days with seeing them. Then weeks and gradually months went by with out a single attack." I sighed, remembering the times when I didn't have to worry so much. Fang spoke, which startled me, for he hadn't spoken in a long time.

"That was probably around the time Jeb disappeared," he said.

"They were all probably out looking for you guys. If Jeb had gone back without you, they must have gone crazy." I told him. He nodded and went back to staring at the sky.

I sighed, "Okay, enough with the depressing stories. Now, its time to tell me something about yourselves," I told them. "Like what are your abilities, if you have any that is," Max sat up straight and looked at me.

"You haven't told us any of your abilities," she said stubbornly.

"Well, you haven't said anything about yourselves either," I said pointed out. I'd already spilled enough.

"Well you should go first, because you're the hostage," she said back to me.

"Yeah, well I'm obviously older," I snapped at her. Great, I felt like a five year old arguing like this. She must have felt like that too, for she started talking.

"Fine, now were to start? So, you know that we grew up in School and that Jeb took us away. You know I'm supposed to save the world, so I guess the only thing left to say are our abilities and stuff. Angel, is the youngest, she's six, and is the only one in the flock that as a biological sibling, the Gasman. She can read and control minds and breathe under water. The Gasman, or Gazzy, is eight and can mimic voices. Nudge is the one with super curly hair and she can sense/feel what the other person was doing from an object they touched. She's also super talkative. Iggy, is fourteen, and can tell how anyone is by there touch or feathers. He also has like super hearing, because he can hear even the slightest movement. Fang, he's also fourteen and my second in command. Lastly, there's me Max, I'm fourteen and can fly super fast. Oh, I also have a little voice in my head, which occasionally gives me advice." She told me. A little voice, huh? "Your turn,"

"Hmm, let's start oldest to youngest." I grabbed the laptop and turned it on to screensaver mode. That's when all the picture of my flock appeared, one by one. "Eion is my sixteen twin brother. I don't know if he's older or younger than me. He has the ability to control people's emotions. He can also feel what your feelings are, because of the emoti waves you send of. Streak is the kid with dark hair and bronze streaks in it. It wasn't always like that; it's a side effect from an experiment that happened years ago. He can do anything with a computer. He can automatically tell what is broken and how to fix it. He's fourteen. Jinx also has super curly hair; she's a lot like Nudge. Jinx is mute, but can read people's mind, so she's always talking to one of us through mind. Karlie had reddish brown hair, she could erase, but only momentarily, people's mind. Then, there's Caleb. He's fast, super fast. Not just flying, but when he walked and did other stuff. He always climbing things too. Then, there's me. As you already know, I have telekinesis meaning I can move any object from up to 150ft away." I shut the computer off, mentally adding lead as my kryptonite. But honestly, they didn't need to know that.

"Why is it that your abilities are more powerful than ours?" asked Iggy.

"It's probably because we're more avian than you," I guessed.

"Wait, you said that Karlie had reddish brown hair. She doesn't now?" asked Max. I sighed in deeply.

"Karlie was captured in New York, two years ago. We haven't seen her since then. We looked for her, everyday, but we never found her. Last year she would have been ten." I said, while fighting back tears.

"I know her," said Fang. I turned to look at him, surprised.

"What?" I asked.

"I, I mean we, saw her a few months ago in New York," he told me. My heart fluttered in happieness. So Karlie could still be alive.

"We did?" Max asked Fang. He nodded.

"At the Instiute for Higher Living, remember. The day you killed Ari." Max thought about it, as if trying to remember.

"You're right, we did. We busted into the institute trying to find some answers, instead we found a bunch of experiments in dog crates and busted them out. One of them was the girl, Karlie. She took charge of the other experiments and left, not wanting to join us." Max told. I sighed in relief.

"So, what now?" asked Iggy. He had said what was probably on the minds of everyone since we started to reveal our secrets. I cleared my throat.

"Well, I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm going to go find my family. There is no way I'm going to lose any of them, ever again." I said sternly.

* * *

**A/N: **Alright, so after a little emotional trouble, Kara's back to buisness. Thought you guys could use the history filler chapter right about now. Of course, i haven't reveal everything. Guess you'll have to keep on reading.

JP owns the Flock. I do not own the Flock, but I do own Kara and her gang. So I guess that's better than nothing.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Kara's POV

"So, what happens now?" asked Iggy quietly. Iggy had asked the question that was on everyone's mind. I cleared my dry throat. I took a long refreshing sip, from my canteen before I spoke.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm of to save my family. I've already wasted too much time. I need to go, now." I said as I stood up grabbing the bag. I shut the laptop down, and put it away.

"Wait a sec, Kara," Max said as she stood up and came to stand next to me. "I don't think you should leave. I mean just yet. Look, right now you're tired and it's more than six hour flight from here to California," she told me, or actually demanded. I knew she was right, but I wasn't going to admit.

"Well, I'll just stop on the way there," I told her stubbornly, looking down at her. She placed herself in front of me and crossed her arms. I did the same thing. We both stared angrily into each others eyes, both of us determined to win. Her dark brown eyes weren't as frightening as my dark green ones, but she wasn't letting down. We both stared at each other, for who knows how long. Finally, I decided to be the better person and I broke the connection. "Fine," I mumbled, "I'll leave in the morning, no later than that," I told her. She smiled at my defeat. If she thought that I was going to cave in like that all the time she was wrong.

I looked up at the moon. I was startled by its position. "It's midnight," I whispered, amazed by how much time had passed.

"How can you tell?" asked Fang. I answered, still looking up at the starry night.

"By the position of the moon, it's halfway through the sky." Max came and sat next to me and looked up at the sky.

"Where did you learn to read time like that?" she whispered to me.

"After years without a watch, you learn stuff like this. It's the same way with the sun," I chuckled.

"Since its midnight, you're off your watch time," said Iggy. "I'll take the watch, you go get some sleep," he told me. I nodded and yawned. I hadn't noticed how sleepy I was.

"I'll take you up on that," I told him. He smiled at me. "Night," I yawned to them.

"Night," they murmured. I went into the cave and laid down against the wall, using my sweatshirt as a pillow. I instantly feel into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Max's POV

I watched as Kara went into the cave to get some sleep. I looked at Fang, who was staring at me. "So, what do we do?" asked Iggy once again. I thought about it. _Go with the flow, Max_. I jumped, not expecting the voice, now Jeb. _What do you mean by that?_ I asked him._ Think about it. _I should have guessed he wouldn't have told me a straight answer._ By going with the flow, does that mean we should go with Kara and try to save her family?_ I asked him. _Exactly. Go help Kara. Gain her trust, remember connections are important._ He had told me the same thing a few months ago, before I had gone to Germany with half my flock. _Does that mean I still have to save the world?_ I asked him. _The world will always need saving, Maximum._ Gosh, did that mean that my thankless job would have to go on forever?

I must have been muttering to myself, again, because Fang and Iggy, well mostly Fang, were looking at me weirdly. "It's the Voice," I told them.

"So, what does Jeb say we should do?" asked Iggy. I sighed.

"He says that we should go with Kara. Gain her trust, he said. Remember, connections are important." I sighed once more.

"So, are we going?" asked Iggy excitedly. I looked over at Fang, he only shrugged. Great, now I had to make the decision.

"Well, maybe we should. She obviously knows things we don't. And if she's going to fight the school, she's going to need back-up." I suggested.

"Yes," said Iggy. What was up with him?

"I'm going to go to sleep. Iggy you okay taking watch?" I asked him. He nodded at me, and added more wood to the fire. I got up and walked past Fang.

"You coming?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"I think I'll stay up, check on the blog," he told me. I rolled my eyes; Fang was obsessed with his blog. I shrugged, his sleep, and walked into the cave. I laid back down, next to Angel. I stroked her hair, gently and went to sleep.

* * *

Kara's POV

Someone shook my shoulder. I instantly grabbed their arm and pinned it to their back. I sat up and saw that it was only Iggy. "Sorry," I told him, releasing his arm.

"Paranoid much?" he asked me, while rubbing his arm. I shrugged, only to remember he was blind. Hey in my defense, after twelve years in hell, then spending the last four years trying to keep you and five other people out of it would make anyone paranoid. Right? "Breakfast is ready," he told me. I got up and looked at him suspiciously. Maybe they're going to poison me for knowing the truth, I thought to myself. I shook that thought out, I was definitely getting paranoid.

Everyone was up, well kind of. Nudge and Gazzy still looked sleepy and Total was sleeping. I sat down next to Max, "So, what's for breakfast?" I asked her.

"Poptarts, and sausages," she responded.

"Yum, definitely your everyday breakfast," I told her sarcastically. She smiled at me, and handed me a plate.

"I'll get you a Poptart," she said and started to get up.

"Don't get up, I'll do it," I told her and she sat down. I looked at the Poptart box and concentrated on it. Instantly, they came flying towards me, I held out my hand and caught them. Everyone was staring at me, well everyone besides Iggy.

"Show off," scoffed Fang. I held the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

"How did you do that!" asked Gazzy surprised.

"Telekinesis," I told him.

"You have telekinetic powers! I mean, Max told us you were like us, but she didn't mention telekinetic powers!" said Gasman, almost jumping up and down with excitement.

After breakfast, I got up and went to go put my bag on. I had stayed the night and had breakfast, like I had promised Max, now I had to go. "So, any idea which way we're heading of to?" asked Max. I turned to look at her stunned then angry.

"We?" I asked her, "There is no we. I am going to find my flock, you are going somewhere," I told her sternly. She placed her hands on her hips.

"We're going with you. You can't defeat the School by yourself. You need help, and you know it," she said angrily. I resisted the urge to throw something at her. We both glared at each other, eyes unblinking. Of course her sharp brown eyes where no match for my piercing dark green ones. She looked away, and I smiled in triumphed.

Angle walked in, or skipped in, I should say. She turned to look at Max. It seemed they where having a silent conversation, I remembered that Angle had the ability to control minds. I immediately started putting up mind barriers, one thing I learned to do when I didn't want to hear Jinx rant on. Angle nodded and turned to look at me, concentrating hard. I smiled when she frowned. She stamped her foot, "I can't get into her mind!" she said frustrated. I chuckled.

"Mind barriers," I told her, "Comes in handy when you have a mind reading, talkative, nine year old." Max stared at me.

"You didn't mention that when we were discussing abilities last night," she snapped.

"It's not an ability, it's a practice that I learned on the internet one day," I told her. She glared at me.

"Angle, plan B," she said. Angel nodded and stepped towards me. The next thing that happened surprised me. Angle's eyes grew big and childish. I groaned, she was giving me Bambi eyes!

"Please, can we go Kara? Please? I really like you and I don't want you to leave. It would make me very sad," she said sweetly. Fortunatley for me, I had become immune to the Bambi eyes, which I often got from Caleb. I kneeled down to her level, so that our eyes where at the same level.

"Oh sweetie, that so cute," I told her gently, "But, I have do this on my own, okay?"

"But Kara," she complained.

"Angel, the answer is no," I told her sternly, and stood up. Yep, that's me, Kara, the cold and heartless one.

Gazzy and Nudge walked in then. "So Max, are we leaving yet?" asked Gazzy. Max shook her head.

"Kara won't budge," she said sadly. I looked at her couriously, what was she planning. Those two must have known, because they both came to stand next to Angel, and both of them started to give me Bambi eyes! I had partially anticipated this. I could deal with two sets of Bambi eyes, but not three. I started thinking of things that would make me immune to them; for example the fact that they where keeping me away from my flock. Or that they were the reason that we had such as rough life!

"Please let us go with you, Kara," they said in a sweet unison.

Fang and Iggy came in then. "Why are you standing here?" asked Iggy, "I thought we where leaving." Fang whispered something into Iggy's ear. "Whoa, really? All three of them?" he asked astonished. "Man, you are heartless," he said to me.

"It's a gift," I told him, smiling slightly. Max suddenly raised her hand to her head. I raised my eyebrow in surprise and interest. She looked surprised, then hurt?

"Jeb says to remember New York," she told me. I was taken aback. How did Jeb know about New York? I looked at the three who where giving me Bambi eyes, then to the other three. I sighed, as I remembered New York.

"Fine," I mumbled. Everyone looked surprised at my defeat. I walked around them and out of the cave. "You have five minutes, and then I'm leaving," I told them as I headed into the woods.

* * *

**A/N: **So I just kind of remembered there is a dog named Total in this story somewhere. Actually I just forgot to put him in and I see this story has gone in too much to go back and figure out where to put him. So let's all pretend that Total lives with Dr. Martinez! Yeah, that'll be great. And this is much easier to write without having a dog around.

Anyway, review! Please!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

I walked of into the woods, fuming. How dare Jeb do something like that! What happened in New York was an accident, something I've haven't repeated. Of course, I almost expected him to do that, since it was a thing he would do.

I walked over to the closest tree, which was a fir, and punched it with all my might. I punched it again and again; every hit filled anger and rage. When I finally stopped my knuckles were bloody, skinless and splintered, I winced when I looked at them. I didn't feel the actual pain until now; that's what happens when your punching inanimate objects in anger, you lose all senses. Sighing, I whipped my hands on leaves, and took out the splinters with my fingers.

I glanced upwards towards the sun, seeing it was time I got back to the others. I started walking back in the direction of the cave, this time taking the long way. I stopped by the river and washed my hands, wincing when my skinless knuckles touched the freezing water. I glanced down on at my reflection. My hair fell between my shoulder and my elbow, curling at the bottom, and what had once been my side bangs now covered up the left side of my face. I made a mental note to cut my hair the next time I had time, but for now I pulled it back and tied it into a ponytail. I shook out my hands, leaving the cuts alone. They'd heal by themselves within a couple hours.

There was a loud crack, and I quickly spun around, immediately getting into a fighting stance. It turned out to be just Iggy, so I relaxed a little. "Wow, you really are paranoid. I could feel you tense up all the way over here," he said. I took advantage of his blindness and stuck my tongue out at him.

"You just caught me of guard," I told him simply. He chuckled.

"If you say so." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Iggy, I'm rolling my eyes at you," I told him. "So, are you guys ready to leave yet?" I asked him, trying to sound impatient, which wasn't hard at all.

"Yep, we're all set. All we need now is you."

"I really wish you wouldn't come," I told him, as we walked through the woods.

"Why?" he said looking hurt.

"Finding my flock is my responsibility, not your. You guys have enough to deal with already," I said.

"It's no problem Kara, besides, it would be very ungentlemen of me to let you travel into danger by yourself," he teased. I sighed, giving up the conversation.

When we entered the clearing, it looked anything but close to leaving. Gasman and Angel were arguing, Nudge was running around trying to find her shoe. Max was trying to stop Gasman and Angel from fighting and Fang was just no where to be seen. "You call this ready?" I asked Iggy. He shrugged. I out my fingers to my lips and gave a loud whistle. By loud, I mean really loud, like if we where at a farm, all the animals would start moving. Iggy, who was unfortunately standing next to me, covered his ears and cringed. "Sorry," I said apologetically. The whistle had worked. Everybody was staring in my direction. "I give you five minutes, leave and come back almost fifteen minutes later and you're still not ready. You people are slow," I told them. Everyone started talking at once. I whistled again, Iggy growled at me.

"Will you please stop doing that!" he asked.

"Sorry," I murmured.

* * *

Ten more minutes later, so basically twenty minutes after I'd originally planned to leave, everyone was finally ready. I stood in the middle of the clearing, looking up at the sun. "So, where are we headed of to?" asked Max. I looked at her, trying to keep myself from glaring accusingly at how late it was getting.

"Well, it's about noon, no thanks to you, and the winds are headed west. If my group didn't get captured by the flyboys, which there is a chance of that, they would have headed of to our universal meeting place." I told her.

"And that is?" questioned Max.

"Oh, you'll see." I told her. She fumed but let it go. I raised my hand to shield my eyes as I looked towards the sun.

"What happened?" asked Max. I looked back at her and saw that she was looking at my knuckles.

"Oh, that. I was just hitting inanimate objects, no biggie," I reassured her. She looked at me in disbelief, and then shrugged.

Being the good person I am, I let Max take the lead. I hung out in the back, taking up the rear. She looked at me, as if asking if I was ready, and I nodded. "So the plan is that where heading of in the direction of the northwest," she said to no one specifically. Everyone nodded, except me. I really didn't do the whole following part. Max snapped her wings open, took a couple of steps back, and took of with a running start. They all did the same, what amateurs. Being as talented as I was, I didn't need the running start. I snapped my wings open, heard a lot of gasps, and pushed upward. In two strokes, I was as high as they were. The little kids looked at me in disbelief, Max just looked at me with a face that said show off. I smiled at her and waved her to continue. She rolled her eyes at me, turned and headed north.

Within a matter of minutes, I figured out that they weren't as fast as we were. Even Caleb, who was younger than Angel could fly faster than all of them, and that was when he was extremely tired and sluggish. Another example that I noticed was that every time I gave two strokes, they would had given about five. In a matter of seconds, I was right next to Angel, Gasman and Nudge. I wondered if the amount of avian I had made such a difference. Or maybe it could be the type of bird. "I still don't understand exactly where we're going," said Gasman. Before I could respond Angel spoke up.

"I told you, where going to go find and save Kara's flock," she said exasperated. "Kara! Tell us about your family. How many people where there, how old are they? Why did you get separated? Are you in _love_ with anyone like how Max and Fang are?" she asked me rapidly. I looked at her shocked at her last statement. So Fang and Max huh? As if hearing that we where talking about her, Max turned her head towards us, I raised my eyebrows in a surprised way. I bet she knew what I was referring to, because she shot a glance at Nudge before turning away rapidly in embarrassment. I snickered.

"So tell us, Kara," said Nudge.

"Yeah Kara tell us!" repeated Angel and Gasman in a perfect harmony. I smiled; it reminded me of my flock.

"Okay," I agreed, and they cheered. I did a small spin, so that I ended up under them, with my stomach facing upward. They looked at me in amazement.

"How did you do that?" asked Gazzy in awe. I shrugged.

"It's something I've always been able to do." I opened my backpack and took out the camera. Normally, I would have taken out the laptop, but I didn't feel comfortable taking it out without Eion or Streak under me to catch it.

For the next couple of minutes, I showed them pictures and short video clips that where on the camera. They were amazed at how everybody could do things they couldn't. After awhile, I turned the camera off, didn't want to waste battery. "Wow Kara, you flock is so cool! I can't wait to meet them! Maybe when we rescue them we'll all become, like friends and like travel everywhere together. Oh my gosh! That would the coolest!" Nudge rambled on. I just smiled at her. I didn't know what would happen after we saved my flock, but as far as I knew, joining flocks wasn't the idea. Nor getting too close.

Angel tugged on my pants legs to get my attention. I turned to her. "Max wants to talk to you," she told me. I nodded and flew to catch up with Max. Within a few strokes I was next to here.

"How did you get here so fast?" she asked me.

"You may not have noticed, but for every five strokes you're taking, I'm taking two." She glared at me. I wasn't used to talking to people from the side, so once more I did a little turn and right side up under Max. "That's better, now I can actually see you when you're talking," I said cheerfully. She looked at me in awe, but quickly recovered. "Is there something you wanted me for?" I asked her impatiently.

"Not really, I just thought you might want to get away from motor mouth Nudge," she said.

Before I could respond I felt a chill go up my back. I turned right side up and flew higher than the flock. I turned to look in different directions. "What's wrong?" asked Max. I turned towards here.

"I have a feeling, that where being followed." I said slowly. "How would you know that?" she asked me.

"Animal instincts. We can feel things, like danger and storms before they strike, just like animals." I whispered. I looked in different directions, until I saw what I was looking for. West of us was a cloud, a dark gloomy looking cloud. I sucked in my breath. Using my superior vision, I looked more closely at the cloud, which was moving way to fast. I quickly turned back to Max. "We have to hurry, they'll be here in a matter of minutes," I told her. She looked at me concerned and frightened.

"Who will?" she asked. I looked at her solemnly.

"The flyboys,"

* * *

**A/N:** so danger has finally arrived? I wonder how Kara and Max will deal with this, seeing as they're both used to leading.

Hope you enjoyed! Yes I know I have favortism towards my own little flock, but I just couldn't help it! I'll work on it, promise!

Review? Oui.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Kara POV

Max quickly snapped into action taking authority. She flew up next to Fang. "Flyboys are coming," she said. Fang looked at her questionably.

"Are you sure?" he said. I mentally smacked him. Of course we were sure, we wouldn't be telling him this if we weren't. Max nodded.

"They're coming from the west," I told him. Max snapped a look at me, but I ignored it. This was no time to question leadership. Fang looked towards the west, and saw the cloud of moving flyboys coming our way.

"So is it flight or fight?" he asked Max. Max looked as though she was thinking of the consequences to each option. I started clenching and unclenching my hands. It really didn't take that long to make a decision!

"Max…" said Iggy worriedly. Everyone was huddled around us now, waiting for Max to make her decision.

I flew out of the circle, to get a better view of the situation. If Max wasn't going to make a decision, then I would. I didn't have to listen to her anway. I took a look, and it seemed that there where about a total of thirty flyboys or so. I turned back towards Max, "Not wanting to rush you or anything, but it looks like there are about thirty flyboys." I told her.

"Max, hurry!" said Iggy impatiently. I groaned, time to take over.

"Well, since Max is taking way to long in making her decision, the only option left is to fight. The flyboys are closing in way to fast for you to escape," I started saying. Max glared at me, I was totally not in the mood to deal with this.

The flyboys were closing in, you could hear the whizzing noise they made getting louder and louder. "Max, I know your going to hate me for this, but I really think that we should listen to Kara right now," said Iggy slowly and carefully. Everyone looked at him stunned, and then turned to look at me. I was still staring at Iggy.

"Fine, whatever," mumbled Max. We all shot her a look. I took it as yes and started giving out orders.

"Here's the plan, Angel where do you normally go?" I asked her. She looked at me surprised that I was actually asking her something.

"Up top," she said.

"Good, get there and get ready," I told her.

"Gasman, Nudge I want one of you in each of Angel's sides at nine," they nodded and got in there positions. I turned to the last three and looked at Fang who was holding Total. "We're going to need someone holding up the rear, two people in front of Gasman and Nudge and one in the middle in front of everyone else. Any volunteers?" I asked them. Iggy looked as though he was imagining the formation in his head. Suddenly he smiled devilishly.

"I get it, and it's excellent." Max and Fang stared at him.

"It's a 3-D diamond," he explained to them. Fang thought about it and looked at me then to Max.

"It's a good plan," he said simply as he flew to the back. Iggy got in front of Gasman. I decided to let Max take the head spot, since I was a good person, and I got in front of Nudge.

Using my telepathic powers, I started making Flyboys bump into one another that is until I saw what one of them was holding. At first I thought it was just punches of bags to hold us in, but when I looked more closely, I noticed it was just one bulged one. I looked at the size of it and gasped, forgetting to flap. I quickly regained altitude, and unblocked my mind so I could talk to Angel. _Angel, can you see what is in the bag?_ I asked her. Angel looked down at me, surprised that she could suddenly hear my thoughts, and nodded. I saw her concentrate on the bag and look surprised._ What is it?_ I asked. _All I'm getting is the mind of someone, its fuzzy kind off._ I heard her thoughts in my head._ Can you connect me to it?_ I asked her, hoping that she knew how to do that. She nodded in my direction and started to concentrate. Within seconds, I could feel the presence of someone else's mind. _Thanks Ang._ I smiled at her and she smiled back._ Okay, um hi. I'm Kara, who are you?_ I asked the person. _Kara? _It asked surprised and frightened all at once. I gave out a sigh of relief, I knew that voice anywhere. _Caleb honey? Are you okay? It's me Kara. _I thought to him. _Kara where are you? I'm scared._ He thought sadly. I tried to sooth him,_ I'm very close Caleb. Now I want you to be very still. I'm going to save you, okay. Okay,_ he thought. I smiled at myself.

"Whatever you do, don't you dare hurt the bag," I said loudly for everyone to hear. Six heads turned towards me confused. Angel, obviously reading my thoughts, gasped.

"Why?" asked Gasman. I looked at him.

"Caleb's in there."

There was a moment of silence. Max, obviously wanting to take back control of her flock, started shouting orders. "Okay new plan. Angel, do what you can to get the flyboys away from Iggy as much as possible. Iggy, you're in charge of getting Caleb. Once you have him, get as far away from here as possible. Nudge, Gasman flank Iggy, help him out. Once he leaves, you follow. Fang, Kara, you two are in charge of taking out as many flyboys as possible. Everyone got that?" she asked in a voice of authority. We all nodded in agreement, and I shot Max a thankful look, she just nodded.

"Why doesn't Kara just use her telekinetic powers and bring Caleb over to us?" asked Gazzy. I starred at him, while everyone stared at me.

"Caleb's too heavy to be telekinetic over; I would probably drop him half way, not to mention I would be totally streaching out my energy." I told him simply. I looked back at the moving cloud, now only about a mile away.

"Everyone, get ready and remember the plan," said Max quietly as she got into a stance. The first flyboy came within seconds.

"Give up subject two, fighting is useless," they said in a robotic voice. That really got me pissed off. I clenched my fist together.

"Fighting is never useless. And it's Kara. Not two," I spat angrily as I punched it in the face, hard. Its head got snapped back and feel off, revealing a lot of wires and gizmos. I didn't have time to enjoy it, normally they didn't fall off that fast, because instantly flyboys began to gang up one me. I gave one a roundhouse kick at the hip, snapping its side. Before it could fall, I pushed it into a couple of flyboys with my power. So far I had taken down five, not bad. I heard Nudge cry out, as a flyboy grabbed her and pinned her hand to her back. Instantly, I moved it off her only to be tackled by one. I could feel the pain moving through out my left side, where I got hit, but ignored it. Right now I was on a mission to save my flock. I kicked it at its head, and watched it fall off. I heard someone call my name, I turned to see Max fighting three flyboys at once, or trying to anyway. I rammed into one, knocking it into another.

"Thanks," said Max.

"No problem," I said shrugging. We each turned to the other two flyboys, who seemed to be thinking about retreating. We didn't give them the option, for we both kicked them in there back, their weak points.

"Is everyone gone?" I asked her, scanning the area. She nodded.

"Yep, it's just us left," she said.

"Iggy got the package?" I asked her worriedly. She nodded. I sighed in relief, not knowing that I had been holding my breath. "Well, it looks like there's nothing left," I told her and started to fly downwards.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay so I haven't fixed my favortism issue. But hey! Max got her chance to shine. And that plan Kara had, I made it up on the spot soooo I have no idea if it would have actually worked since I'm not a genius in battle tatics.

Owners own respective characters.

Review? Da.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Max's POV

I flew behind Kara, as we headed toward where the others were. I could tell by the way she was flying, that she wanted to get there fast. I remembered what Kara told me, about how she and her group flew faster than we did, and she was right. As I saw her fly at a fast speed, faster than we would be able to when we had just finished battling the flyboys, I understood. I understood a lot of things, some of which I didn't like.

I let my mind wander back to yesterday, when we had been discussing abilities and strengths. I was amazed at what she said, the things that she told us. It had bothered me when she said that she was better than us; that everyone knew they where better than us, but we had been picked instead. At first I just thought it was jealousy, anger that she was saying, but today she proved me wrong.

As I watched her take charge of my flock today, I saw a part of her. She was smart and fast. She decided to take action when I didn't know what to do, when I was paralyzed with fear of the flyboys coming our way; too many of them to fight; at a speed too fast for us. Her fighting abilities were better then ours as well. The way she was able to dislocate the flyboys head in a punch, it would have taken us more than a punch to do that. Her flying abilities were brilliant, the way she gracefully moved when flying, being able to fly belly up; it amazed me. Many times I found myself looking at her in awe. She was better, and she knew it too. Then why had it been me, why had I been picked when she was so much better?

_Max you have to understand something, something important, _said the voice. _**What may that be, Jeb? Why did you pick me, they're better. Why? Was it because I'm your daughter?**_ I said the word daughter reluctantly. _Max, when the decision was made, they had intentionally picked the first group. You and your flock were made as back up, _he told me. I could tell he was telling me this reluctantly. _**So, they are better. Great, then what happened?**_ I asked, what can I say, curiosity killed the bird kid. I heard him sigh,_ Max, what is the one thing that you're better at?_ He asked me. I thought about it, what was the thing I was better at? I wasn't better at fighting, or planning, or flying. I wasn't better at making quick decisions or… I must have gotten the voice angry with my thinking, because what he said next I could tell he was yelling it to me. _You're more human! You are better at being human! _I cringed. He was right; I was more human, by two percent more human. _**And whose fault was that!**_ I thought angrily. This time he didn't respond I knew he wouldn't.

I heard Kara slow down. I did too, until we both came to a complete stop. She looked at me curiously, "Max, what's wrong?" she asked concerned. I looked at her, thinking at what Jeb said. She looked as much human as I did, yet I couldn't shake the feeling I had that he was right.

"Nothing, I was just thinking. We better hurry back to the others, they'll start to worry." I told her quickly. She looked at me once more, nodded and took of again. I followed her, this time trying not to think.

When we landed in the thick green forest, we where ambushed by questions of concern. Apparently we had taken to long to get here. Before we could say anything, Iggy walked up to Kara, with a little boy at his side. I saw Kara's eyes soften as she looked down. Kara kneeled down, until she and the boy were at the same height. At first they just stared at each other, as if wanting to know if it was real. Then the boy tossed his arms around Kara's neck and started to cry into her shoulder. Kara hugged him back and started to sooth him with words to low for us to hear. I decided to give them so time alone, and signaled the others to follow. Quietly we left them, not wanting to intrude on their Hallmark moment.

* * *

Kara's POV

When Iggy came up to me, holding Caleb by the hand, I almost cried. I bent down and looked at him, his face full of confusion and happiness. When I smiled at him, he threw his arms around my neck and started to cry. I hugged him tight and stroked his hair, promising that I would never again leave him. I felt it when Max and her flock started to leave, probably to give us more privacy.

After a few more minutes, Caleb slowly started to calm down. He let go of my neck slowly, as if making sure I wasn't going to leave him. I pulled out a tissue from my bag and handed it to him. He blew his nose, and hiccupped, something he always did when he finished crying. I smiled and took the now damp tissue away from him. There were so many things I wanted to ask him, but I knew better than to ask him now. "Hey, monkey. Are you okay?" I asked him sweetly. He smiled at me and nodded.

"Mhh, that tall boy with blond hair took really good care of me while you weren't here. He asked me if I was hurt and everything. He reminds me a lot of Eion, Kara," I laughed and tasseled his hair.

"That tall boy is named Iggy," I told him. "Do you want to go meet everyone else?" I asked him. He looked at me worried. Slowly, he shook his head. "Don't worry, they don't bite," I told him. He smiled.

"Kara, are they like us?" he asked. I nodded. His face suddenly became full of happiness and curiosity.

"Come on, let's go meet them! Come on," he said all excited. It made my heart flutter with happiness to see him like that. I got up, dusted my jeans off and held his hand. I gave it a little reassuring squeeze, as we walked through the clearing to where Max and the rest of the flock were waiting.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Max POV

We had already started making a camp fire when Kara and Caleb walked in. Caleb stopped short, a scared look on his face. Kara looked down at him and smiled reassuringly at him and stroking his hair. He smiled back and took a deep breath, before he continued on walking. I noticed the way Caleb looked up at Kara, he obviously loved her very much and looked up to her, and he trusted her. "Guys, this is Caleb," she announced. We all smiled at him, even Fang, who was a sucker for cute little kids at times. Nudge of course was the first one to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm Nudge. I'm eleven, how old are you? Do you have wings like Kara? Hers are pretty. I have wings too, see," she said all at once and opened her wings so Caleb could see. Caleb stared in amazement; he probably had never seen wings besides the ones in his flock. He looked at Kara questionably, and she nodded her head encouragingly. Caleb slowly unfolded his wings, which turned out to be pure white, just like Angel's.

Nudge's eyes where sure to pop out any second. "Wow, your wings are pretty," she said in awe. Caleb looked down at his feet, embarrassed. My little Angel skipped over to Caleb and stopped in front of him.

"Hi, I'm Angel. I have white wings too," she said as she stretched out her wings. From where I was sitting, it looked like Angel was about two inches taller than Caleb. Yet, it seemed as thought they where twins, both of them had blonde hair, but Caleb's was more like Iggy's than Angel's. She stretched out her hand and Caleb looked at her, confused. "Do you want to sit with me, Nudge, and Gazzy?" she asked him. He looked at Kara to see if it was okay, she nodded delightfully. He smiled an angelic smile, and took Angel's hand. They walked together, hand in hand, to where Gazzy was sitting. Nudge went to go join them, they all instantly became friends.

I smiled as Kara came and sat next to me. "They seem to be hitting it of okay," she said. I nodded and watched as Caleb showed them his super speed. "Stay away from the fire, Caleb" Kara warned. I chuckled.

"Not so easy taking care of little kids, is it?" I asked.

She laughed, "No, it isn't. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. What about you, they give you a hard time too?" she asked. I laughed, "You have no idea. There's motor mouth Nudge; Gazzy, who loves singing the Weird Al Yankovic song, which is all about bodily functions, by the way; and Angel, who one day decided to change the mind of the President taking money from the military and donate it to the poor people." Kara groaned, "Not the constipation song! That's Caleb's favorite." We both started laughing.

We had dinner, which was whatever was left of yesterday's food, and started getting everyone ready for bed. Kara was currently arguing with Caleb, about something, and I was arguing with Nudge, who wanted me to tell them a story. "Aww, come on Max, tell us a story!" she said loudly. "Yeah, tell us a story!" Angle and Gasman agreed. I whined I wasn't the best at telling stories. I looked over at Kara, who had probably won the conversation against Caleb, since he looked sad, and got an idea.

"I know, Kara will tell you a story. After all, she was just telling me about one this afternoon." Kara looked up at the sound of her name. Angel, Gasman, Nudge and Caleb all started begging for a story. Kara glared at me, before turning to the little kids and promising a story, but only if they hurried up and got to bed. They all cheered. I smirked at her as she past, heading towards the cave we found. She glared at me, and looked around her, seeing the little kids nearby she looked disappointed, as if she was going to say something not nice. "Remember, language," I taunted her. She stared at me furiously, before being dragged off.

"You are one cruel person," said Fang disappointedly as he sat down next to me. I smiled at him.

"I know, what can I say, it's a gift." He rolled his eyes at me, before lying down and closing his eyes. Iggy, Fang, Kara and I, were going to sleep outside on the ground, since there wasn't enough room in the cave for everyone. I picked at the fire with a stick, as I managed to catch a part of Kara's story.

"And do you know what she did? She took the little mouse by the hand and told him 'I don't care if you're a mouse, or a man. I'll still love you, for ever and ever.' Then she bent down and kissed the mouse on his nose."

I frowned as she told the story, her voice strong and sweet, as if she was painting the words into pictures. Was she really good at everything? I thought about the conversation I had had with the voice this afternoon. _You're more human._ He had said to me. Those words kept going over and over in my mind. What did it matter if I was more human or not? I sighed, loudly. Fang sat up on his elbow, "You okay?" he asked me concerned. I shook my head and laid down next to him.

"What do you think of Caleb," I asked, trying to change the subject. If he noticed, he didn't care because he went along with the question.

"He reminds me a lot of Angel. You know, sweet and small. But he acts like a little kid, not like Angle who acts older than she is," he whispered.

"Is that a good thing or not?" I asked him.

"I don't know, as long as he's happy, I guess its okay." I turned towards him, looking into his dark eyes.

"Maybe it's a good thing that he acts that way, as if he the world's problem aren't his." Fang shrugged. That was probably as much as a response as I was going to get. I leaned back, so that my head rested on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

Kara's POV

I finished the story and laid them to bed. They all snuggled up against each other for warmth, even Caleb was part of the group, right in between Angel and Gasman. I looked down at Caleb and saw how happy he was. I was glad that Angel took it upon herself to make Caleb feel comfortable with them.

I walked out of the cave and came and sat next to Iggy. I watched as Fang and Max where snuggled against each other on the other side of the fire. "So, Max cuddled up next to Fang?" he asked me. I smiled, "Yep." Iggy smiled evilly. "Do you know what I'm thinking?" he asked. "No, but I'd love to know," I said very cautiously. "You don't by any chance have your camera with you?" he asked me. I gaped, knowing what his intentions where, "You are pure evil," I managed. I quietly got up and got the camera out of the bag. I turned it to silent mode, so when the clicker went off, it wouldn't make a noise. I stood near them and took a couple of picture. I turned it off and sat back down next to Iggy.

"You got the pictures?" he asked me.

"Oh yeah." We started laughing, trying to keep it down so not to wake anyone. I twiddled with the camera in my hands, "So what are we going to do with the pictures?" I asked him.

"Oh, we could probably save them for a time, or download them onto Fang's blog," he suggested.

I yawned suddenly noticing that I was once again exhausted. "So, have you always been on the run?" asked Iggy as he poked the fire.

"No, not always. A couple of months ago we where living in Tennessee, in an actual apartment. I had faked my age and we rented it for about two months. It was nice, though we slept on the floor, we didn't have the money on buying mattresses. It didn't last long, everyday the little ones would want to go fly and Eion and I where always feeling trapped. We decided it wasn't for us, and moved on." I was surprised at how easy I could talk to Iggy; normally I would be all military and paranoid. I remembered what Caleb had told me about Iggy. "Thanks again for helping me save Caleb. He seems to like you. You're good with him," I told him. Wow where had that come from? He looked down at me, well not exactly looked but you get the point.

"Yeah, he's a great kid. Like Angel, only less adult and creepy," he chuckled and I smiled. I yawned again. "You should get some sleep, I'll take watch," he told me. Normally I wouldn't be taking commands from anyone, but I was too exhausted to argue. I laid my head back onto Iggy's shoulder and closed my eyes.

* * *

**A/N:** A little nice, sweet filler. Hope you like.

Review? Yes.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Iggy's POV

I felt Kara lean her head against my shoulder. I heard her breathing soften and steady into a low beat. I knew she was a sleep, probably dreaming too. I felt relived that Kara was there next to me, her head on my shoulder. I also felt confused. I shrugged the feeling off, and 'stared' into the direction of the fire, wishing once more that I could see.

It wasn't much longer, before Kara started talking in her sleep. I had noticed it last night that she did that, so softly that even I almost couldn't hear it. She was murmuring about something, or someone. I stayed still, so that I wouldn't wake her, and listened. "No, no one can come. I don't care Jinx. Karlie and I will go," she murmured. I wondered what she was dreaming off. Suddenly the dream turned because she no longer was peaceful and calm, but now she was getting restless. "NO, no, no. No, don't. Please stop. Stop," she murmured angrily. I couldn't take it, hearing her this way; angry, afraid not like her usual calmness and reassurance. I lightly shook her on the shoulder, waking her. I felt her snap open, sitting up. "Hey, it's your turn to watch," I whispered to her, and it really was.

"Kay thanks. You get some sleep Iggy, I'll take over," she said cheerfully. I manage a smile, a fake one, just like her cheerfulness.

Kara's Pov

I knew Iggy had heard me talking, muttering in my sleep. I knew he wanted to know what had happened, but I couldn't tell him, not ever. There were something that were just meant to be kept under lock and key and between family. I watched as he took his place on the ground, where I had been. I watched him close his eyes, his breathing smoothly soften. I added more firewood to the fire, picking at it with a stick.

It was about one or so in the morning. I sighed, remembering a saying I used to hear every morning. Karlie would say it everyday, as she woke up and started waking up others, "Get up, and face the new day and its challenges," she would say cheerfully. Sometimes she would shorten it, "Another day, get up and face it," she used that one more frequently than the other. I smiled, remembering. Now, nobody said anything like that, it hurt too much. I sighed remembering. What would happen if we don't save the others, will Caleb and I have to try to erase them, just like we tried with Karlie, because it would hurt too much?

I heard a twig snap and I turned, in the direction of the cave. It was dark, but I could make out who it was. When I saw it was only Caleb, I relaxed a little. I went over and picked him up. Eion used to tease me, saying I babied him too much. I probably did, but hey, he was my baby. "What are you doing up?" I asked him quietly, stroking his hair just how he liked it. He rubbed his tired eyes with his dirty sleeve, leaving dirt marks on his face. We would have to stop at a drift shop soon.

"I couldn't sleep. I was having a… what do you call a sad dream?" he asked me quietly.

"I don't know, do you want to talk about it?" I asked him. He shook his head, and he looked towards the fire. I placed him down and he sat down near the fire.

"My dream was really sad. Eion and the others where there, and so was Karlie. We where in a big dark forest. Then suddenly Karlie disappeared, and you were really sad. Eion tried making everyone feel better, but he was too sad. Then, all of started to disappear, one by one, until I was all alone in the forest. Everything turned scary and dark. Then two flyboys came up to me and went "Its time for your extermination." I turned and ran, but I wasn't going anywhere, and I ended up being trapped in a dog crate, back at the Emporium," he said sadly and quietly. I could tell he was trying not to cry. I gave him a tight hug.

"Shh. Its okay, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere ever again. I promise," I whispered in his ear.

"You promise?" he asked me through sobs.

"I promise," I promised him. This was one promise I wanted to come true.

* * *

Morning arrived, unfortunately. I was awakened by a shake, which I quickly stopped. I tried not to hold the arm to tight, incase it was Caleb or Angel. "Wow, you really are paranoid," said a voice. I opened my eyes and saw Max leaning over me. I let go of her hand.

"Sorry," I apologized. She rubbed her wrist, as she looked at me. "What?" I asked. Had I really grasped her hard? She shook her head.

"Nothing, never mind. Hey, do you need to go to town? Fang went online this morning and found a really close town," she explained.

I nodded, "Yeah, Caleb needs new clothes, and where running out of food," I told her, standing up carefully. Caleb hadn't wanted to go back to the cave, so he ended up sleeping with me. She nodded and went to go wake everyone else. I gently shook Caleb by the shoulder. He instantly opened his eyes, he was alert and awake. That was one thing that came out of being on the run everyday, you where always ready.

For breakfast, the little kids got what was left of the food; four granola bars and juice. The rest of us had to stick it through till we got to town. "So, how are we traveling? Are we going to fly or is the town close enough to walk?" I asked Fang. He looked at me with his black hair almost covering his dark eyes.

"We're flying," he said. Yeah, that was probably as much as I was going to get out of him today.

"Great," I said smiling, then went to go break up a fight.

Within seven minutes, which was a record, we where ready to leave. I was once again taking up the rear, Caleb was next to Angel. I nodded to Max, signaling her to take off. She snapped her wings open, took a couple steps back and launched herself into the air. She was followed by Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel. Caleb opened his wings and jumped into air, taking one stroke, until he was next to Angel. I opened mine and did the same thing.

We were flying once more, over rivers and hills. I loved watching the ground go past under me as I flew. Caleb kept glancing impatient glances at me, he obviously wanted to go faster than this, probably use his super speed too. I only shook my head, we had to stay with the group, no matter how slow they where going. Saftey in numbers, I told myself, even though my instincts were telling me to just go ahead with Caleb.

Within a couple flaps, I was next to Iggy. "You guys are so slow," I whined. He missed a flap and dropped a couple feet. He turned to me and glared.

"Don't do that," he hissed.

"Sorry," I said, holding my hands in surrender. "But seriously, you guys are so slow. I mean so slow, even Caleb is complain," I told him. He sighed, and turned to look at me.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" he asked. I shot him a look.

"Nothing really, I just need someone to complain to," I explained to him. I suddenly had an excellent idea. "Hey, can't Max use super speed?" I asked him. He nodded slowly, not knowing where this was going. "Thanks," I said, "You may have just solved one of my problems." I swopped down and kissed him on the check. I was trying to make up for scaring him. He blushed a deep red and looked down. I giggled and went next to Max. "Hey, Max. You wouldn't mind racing Caleb would you? He has an urge to use his super speed, but you're the only one fast enough to catch him," I pleaded. She turned to me and looked at me like I was crazy, which I sure wasn't right now.

"No," she said simply.

"But Max," I whined. I leaned in closer, so that only she could hear me. "Besides, you owe me, and I think you wouldn't want a picture up on Fang's Blog," I said calmly. She stared at me in horror.

"What picture?" she asked, trying to stay cool. "Oh, just a picture of you and, I don't know, Fang maybe?" I said toying with her. She glared at me furiously, before giving up.

"Fine, but just one race," she mumbled. "Thanks Max, you rock," I said happily. I went over and gave Caleb the news.

"Okay, this is a speed race only. No fighting, no punching. It's a straight race, so no zigzags or whirls. You're going as far as that tree over there and back," I said sounding official. We where hovering in the air, waiting for the race to start. Caleb was almost pouncing up and down from enthusiastic, Max, not so much. The race was about a four and a half miles from the starting point. It was a total of 10mil, back and forth.

"Don't worry Max, I'll take it easy on you," said Caleb sweetly. Max looked at him astonished, as everyone else laughed.

"Okay, flyers ready. On three, and I mean on three. 1...2...3...GO!" I shouted. Caleb immediately took of, Max right behind him. You could hear his crackle all the way from where we where waiting. We watched as they flew away, getting smaller with every second, until you couldn't tell who was winning. Within the seconds, Caleb was racing back, at full speed. I was getting ready to pull the winner up with my telekinetic powers. We all watched, until I saw him closing in. Immediately, as he got closer, I concentrated on him, pulling him upward as he crossed the finish line. Max was ten whole seconds late. Everyone cheered. Caleb was extremely happy with himself. He flew up next to Max and threw his arms around her neck, catching her off guard.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," he thanked happily. I felt a surge of jealousy, but ignored it. Max was laughing, something I hadn't seen her do, and congratulating him. When he finally let go, Max looked at me, her brown eyes gleaming with happiness, "That was fast."

* * *

**A/N:** So the difference in behavior between the two flocks are starting to arise. I wonder if anyone's noticed them. They're subtle hints, too subtle maybe. I don't know.

Anyway, JP owns his characters. I own mine.

I hoped you liked this chapter. Review? Si!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

We made it to Shreve in record time, for them anyway. "I'm tired," whined Nudge when we landed into the national park. It was near nighttime, so we weren't going to be noticed.

"How can you be tired?" Caleb asked he was jumping up off the walls.

"How can you be this hyper?" asked Nudge tiredly.

I laughed, "This is totally not hyper active, this is normal," I told her. She stared at me, as if I told her the moon was actually made of cheese. I laughed, "Maybe we should spend the nigh here, you guys look pretty tired. There's a town close by, I could go get us some food and we can camp out here tonight," I suggested. Everyone agreed.

"I'll go with you," offered Max. I nodded.

"I want to come to," said Caleb.

"You can't go Caleb," I told him.

"Hey Caleb, want to help us get some fire wood? We're having a race, the person who gets the most wins," Iggy told him. His little face lightened up at the sound of speed. He nodded and went to talk to Angel.

"Thanks for that," I told him. He nodded.

"Any time," he said. "Hey, Kara! Get me a couple of Snicker bars would ya?" yelled Gasman. I nodded and glancing to look at Caleb. Luckily he hadn't heard Gasman; he was talking happily away with Angel.

"Why'd you freak out when Gasman asked for Snicker bars?" asked Max. We were air borne now, flying over the green landscape.

"Do you remember that I told you that Karlie was taken from us about two years ago in New York?" I asked her. She nodded, "Well Caleb took it the hardest. Those two were really close, like they had this sibling bond that was strong. When she taken, he was heart broken. Anything that had to do with Karlie made him cry," I whispered, remembering the days when Caleb wasn't this happy. When you had to be careful with what you said, for fear of making him cry.

"So what do the Snicker bars have to do with any of this?" asked Max.

"Snicker bars where her favorite candies bar," I said quietly. Max faces shown with comprehension.

"So when I offered him the black fleece jacket…" she started.

"Her favorite colors where black and purple," I answered. Earlier today we had stopped at a drift shop and exchanged our clothes. Max had offered Caleb a black fleece jacket, but he refused. He got all quite and solemn suddenly, but I made it up to him by buying everyone ice cream.

"Oh, I get it now, that's why you where all tense when Gasman wanted Snicker bar," she said. I nodded.

"Yeah, he probably didn't hear him, or he's finally getting over it," I told her. I really hoped it was the getting over part.

"So, anything else that I might need to know, so you know, he doesn't break down or anything?" she asked me, genuinely concerned. I smiled; I liked knowing that she cared.

"What ever you do, try not to mention winter, that's her favorite season. Wolves are her favorite animal and she adored nighttime," I listed. She looked at me confused, "Night time?" I nodded.

"Have you ever been attacked at night? Well we never were, so I guess nighttime named her feel safer," I guessed. The other reason would have been that at night, when we camped, you could always see the stars and the moon. They where always there and always the same ones no matter where we where. Well, that's the reason I like night.

We hit the local grocery store and loaded up on food. We used Max credit card, which she told me she found, and headed back to camp. The fire was already lit and ready, waiting for us. "Kara, Kara, guess what?" shouted Caleb as we landed.

"What?"

"I won the race!" he said excitedly.

"Yeah, but only because he used his super speed and got everything before we could," grumbled Gazzy. Everyone laughed.

"Well, it was a race for speed," said Nudge.

* * *

Max's POV

We wrestled everyone into bed; it was a lot harder than usual. Caleb wasn't even closed to tired, and after having a couple of Snicker bars, neither where Gazzy, Nudge and Angel. Kara threatened every one by saying that if they didn't go to bed, then she wouldn't show them a surprise tomorrow. That settled them down a bit. We finally got everyone to sleep, but not before Angel got Fang to read them a story from a story book we had gotten at the drift store. He gaudily agreed, but once he started reading, you could tell he was enjoying it.

"So Kara, what's the surprise?" I asked her quietly. She shrugged.

"I don't know yet, but I bet I'll come up with something," she whispered back to me.

We chuckled, "What's so funny?" asked Fang as he came and set next to me. He wrapped his arm around shoulder, brining me closer to him. I snuggled up next to him. Fang and I had decided to take our relationship to a higher level, but we agreed only at night, because everyone would think that he always chose my side because he liked me and that would affect my leadership role.

"Kara had no idea what the surprise is," I explained.

"Well, I can see where that would be a problem," he chuckled.

_Hello Max, enjoying yourself?_ I snapped up right, surprised by the voice. _**Hello Voice**_ I said politely. _Have you been thinking about what I said?_ He asked. I had been thinking about it, but I couldn't see what the problem was._ Max, the girl Kara she depends on her animal instincts to survive. So do you, but not as much as her. You still use your human instincts to get about your life._ I was getting pissed now. Why couldn't he just let it go? _**Well Jeb, being hunted everyday, with not only your life but the life of other if a really big responsibility. You do what ever you can to survive. Isn't that right?**_ There was a long silence. I hoped it would just go away, but unfortunately it didn't. _Her instincts will get you into trouble one day._

* * *

**A/N:** Soo this chapter was basically a filler. Karlie actually represents a real person whose helped me alot in the beginning of this chapter. She was always there to support and keep cheering me on for more chapters. Sadly, she's had to leave the internet world behind due to circumstances that I can't say. I told her I'd incorporate her into the story somehow, for all her hard work and I did. Maybe not as smoothly as I had planned, but I did it.

A little 1 on 1 with Jeb and the whole differnce thing. I don't know how big of a part this will actually play on the story.

Thoughts? Opinions? You know you want to review and share!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Iggy's POV

Max and Kara were asleep, so was everyone else except Fang, who was sitting next to me. "So Iggy, what do you think about Kara?" he asked me. I poked the fire.

"Well, she seems nice enough and she does seem to care a lot about her flock, especially Caleb," I told him. I mean he really didn't need to know what I thought about her.

"Okay, now tell me the truth," he whispered. I turned to look at, trying to look shooked. "Don't give me that look. I've seen the way you look at her," he said. I blushed, I hated how it seems he can read minds, but he doesn't have mind reading abilities.

"What do she really look like?" I asked him. I had gotten a basic description from Max, but Fang would always add more detail, make me actually see it in my mind.

"Well, she's about three inches shorter than me, probably around 5' 7", 5' 8". She has really long hair compared to Max, it reaches to about her elbow, a little higher. You could tell she had side bangs, but now they're to long, they cover the left side of her face when she wears it down. It's brown colored, and it kinda curls at the end. She has amazing dark green eyes, when she glares, they turn kinda dark, and it's totally creepy." He chuckled.

"Creepier than when Max does it?" I asked him.

"Way creepier than when Max does it, they're like predator bird sharp and creepy. Kara's looks could kill," he said softly. I smiled, "continue," I could hear Fang take a drink from the canteen Kara had given him, before starting once again.

"She's slim, like all of us, but it looks like she weighs less than Max, but more than Nudge. She a really good smile, not as good as Max's of course," he said immediately.

"Of course," like I would know.

"What about when she flies?" I asked him.

"When she's flying, it looks so graceful, it makes her look that she was made to fly. Her wings are really cool looking. It looks like they are originally a light brown; the tips and some feathers are streaked with white. Anything else?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Not without Max calling me a sexist piglet," I joked. He punched my arm and I punched him back.

We sat there in the quite, not knowing what else to talk about. "So how's it going with you and Max?" I asked him out of curiosity. I could feel him lighten up, he enjoyed talking about Max.

"I love it," he said. I yawned; I hadn't realized how sleepy I was until now.

"You go get some sleep, I'll take over the watch," he told me. I nodded and lied down closing my eyes. "And Iggy, Max told me about the pictures. If you ever do that again, I'll personally kill you," he told me. For a sec, I actually believed him.

* * *

Kara's POV

I woke myself up today. Not that I wanted too, but I woke with a feeling. As soon as I woke up, I knew it was going to rain. I didn't even need to look at the sky, I just knew. Like how an animal knows how to hide before a storm hits. "I hate rain," I mumbled as I worked my way around the camp.

"What?" I turned to see Fang getting up.

"I said I hate rain," I told him as I turned on the computer.

"How do you know its going to rain?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"I just do. It's an instinct." He gave me a look that said sure.

"It doesn't look like it, the sky is cloudless and sunny," he muttered. What was up with him? Yesterday I can barley get him to talk, and now he's all talkative. That kid needs to make up his mind. "Mind if I check my blog?" he asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah sure," he came and sat down next to me, taking the computer.

"Ours is kind off running low on batteries," he said as he typed.

"You can borrow our charger. It's solar powered," I told him. We kinda "borrowed" that too, from some guy in Minnesota.

"Thanks," he said. I smiled, I was getting somewhere with him today.

"So, what's you're blog about?" I asked him.

"It's basically a journal of our where abouts," he said. I looked at him shocked.

"Is you're blog 6 kids, 12 wings, 1 blog?" I asked him curiously. Eion had come across it a couple months ago, we thought it was hilarious that some kid thought himself to have wings like us and have an adventure.

"Yeah, you've read it?" I nodded.

"Yep, Eion came across it a couple months ago. At first we thought it was some joke, but now I guess it's real." I told him. We just sat there the only sound was a click from the keyboard, while Fang typed. "Is it really smart? You know, to write a blog about where you are? Wouldn't someone be able to find you?" I asked him. It was a really long time before he responded; I was starting to believe he hadn't heard me.

"I don't really know. Maybe, I don't really tell them where we are or anything that might lead them to us, I think. But its one way I vent, I guess," he whispered, not even looking at me. I shook my head; I totally understood the venting part.

We where in the air again, heading due north. Caleb was a hyper cause it was going to rain, he loves rain, and I was sulking, I hate rain. "It's not going to rain!" said Max frustrated.

"Yes it is, it's going to rain cold water, and my wings are going to get wet and damp," I said grimly. She rolled her eyes at let me sulk. Caleb flew excitedly next to me.

"Come on Kara! How can you be sad? It's going to rain! I love flying in the rain!" he chipped. I glared at him, he got the point and left to go annoy someone else.

To my misery, thirty minutes later, it started to rain, hard. The cold drops of rain hit my wings, getting my feathers wet and soggy. The extra water made my wings heavier, which made me have to flap them harder. While I was silently cursing, Max came up to me, I could barley tell it was her since the strong winds were making it hard to see, blowing rain in all directions.

"Told ya so," I muttered to her.

"You don't have to rub it in," she snapped.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked her, grimly; surely we wouldn't be flying in this.

"Well, I guess we keep flying, until it gets too hard," she suggested. I heard Caleb shout yes, somewhere from far away. I groaned, I hated rain.

I had moved the backpack so it was under me, to prevent the laptop from getting wet. I wasn't watching where I was going, or rather I couldn't see where I was going, and almost crashed into Fang. "Sorry, I didn't see you, or anything in that matter," I muttered. He nodded in acknowledgement, or at least I think he did. I was so tired of not seeing, that I suddenly remembered something. I pulled my hair back in two low ponytails and took out a pair of snowboard goggles I always kept in the backpack. I cleaned away as much of the rain away from my face and put the goggles on. Things where more clearly, but still a little foggy, but at least I could see more. Having amazing night vision helped a lot. Of course, it didn't even match Cole's. I could make out the shapes of everyone. Thankfully, they where all different sizes, so I could easily tell who was who. I flew downward, towards Max, to see how she was holding up.

"Hey Max," I almost shouted. She turned, surprised to see me.

"Weren't you just next to me?" she asked/shouted. I shook my head.

"Nope, I think that was Nudge."

"How can you tell it was me?" she asked.

I tapped my goggles, "Eye protection," I yelled. She nodded. Suddenly, out of no where, I got hit by Caleb. I dropped a couple of feet, and could hear him cracking up hysterically. "Caleb! That was not funny!" I yelled at him. He laughed even harder, clutching his stomach. I speed towards him, barley missing his right leg as he speed away. I chased after him, diving and turning. It was actually fun, but I couldn't forget that I had to go slower since it was raining. I finally gave up when I almost crashed into Max.

"Having fun?" she asked sarcastically. I nodded and continued hating the rain. There was a really long silence, I almost thought that she had left, when Max spoke up again, "Hey Kara, do you guys have a last name?" she asked. I started laughing.

"Yeah we do. My brother and I do, so everyone else uses it too. It's Storm, ironic isn't it?"

The rain finally started to lessen, and I didn't need to use my goggles anymore. My wings where cold and wet, they even hurt from flapping so much. "Can we please find a place to land?" I almost begged Max. Yes, I Kara had stouppedd to begging. In my defense, I wasn't the only one that looked tired. Iggy was barley holding on and his haire looked like a wet mop, and Nudge was almost falling out of the sky. Max looked around and nodded. We landed in some woods, near a cave and settled in. Amazingly we found some wood and where able to start a fire, which felt amazing. Everyone was asleep in no time.

* * *

**A/N: **So how about that guy talk huh? Pretty good if I do say so myself, even if it might be unrealistic. I don't know what guys talk about, I'm a girl so they usually lie when I ask. Not that I'm classifying guys everywhere. Just the ones I know.

I'd really love it if you reviewed. Thanks :D


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Iggy kissed me last night. I totally wasn't expecting it, and even know I don't know what to think. I looked up at the blue cloudless sky, remembering last night.

_Flashback_

_Everyone had gone to sleep, it was just me and Iggy left. "I'll be right back, I'm going to get some fire wood," I told him. He nodded, he looked distracted. I left and went into the woods, trying to find something that wasn't wet from today's earlier shower. I was gathering wood, when I heard someone step behind me. I turned, ready to throw the sticks at who ever it was, but it turned out to be only Iggy. "Iggy, you scared me," I told him. He stepped forward, "I'm sorry," he whispered, his face inches from mine. He was taller than me, about half a head taller. I felt his hand touch my chin, slowly tilting it upwards, I saw his face tilt side ways, yet I wasn't prepared for what happened. He kissed me, aiming perfectly for my mouth. His lips were soft and gentle against mine. I was surprised, I tensed up. I felt his mouth stop, but I didn't want it to. Did I? What happened next surprised me even more than him kissing me, I kissed him back._

_I felt as he wrapped his arms around my waist. He gently pushed me up against the tree. It amazed me how he even knew a tree was there. I wrapped my arms around his neck and entangled my fingers in his short hair. He moved his hands upward, toward my back. One hand he entangled in my hair, the other he left there on my back. His lips were perfect, like heaven almost. They way they moved gave the impression he had done this before. It started to drizzle again, but we didn't care. I could feel myself getting dizzy, but I didn't want to stop, not now. Eventually the dizziness got too much and we broke apart, staggering. We heard the trees rustle and Max's voice calling our names. We looked at each other, and started to pick up the wood that wasn't wet and headed back._

_End Flashback_

I had really liked it then, but now I was all confused. I liked Iggy, right? I hadn't talked to him all day, but I wasn't avoiding him either. Since this has never, ever, happened to me before, I had no way of dealing with it. I wondered what he was thinking.

* * *

Iggy's POV

The most amazing thing happened last night. I had finally gotten the courage and did something I had been wanting to do for a long time.

Last night Kara and I had been the only ones wake, like always. I heard as she stood up and I heard as she told me she was going to get more firewood. I had nodded, barely paying attention; my mind was just not there. I heard as she walked into the forest, her foot steps getting farther way every second. That's when I made my split decision; I stood up and followed her. It wasn't very hard, she was making a lot noise, splashing in every puddle there was, though I'm sure it wasn't on purpose. I followed her, till I knew exactly where she was. I was about, maybe a foot away, when I stepped on a twig, making it snap. I felt as she tensed, making me know exactly where she was, and felt her relax. "Iggy, you scared me," she said. I took a step towards her, "I'm sorry" I had whispered. I leaned down, knowing exactly where I was going, and kissed her. I knew she was surprised, and I felt her tense up. I had stopped, partially waiting for her to back away. What surprised me was that she then started to kiss me back. It was amazing; the whole thing was totally amazing. Her hair was so soft, like feathers. If only Max hadn't called our names or the fact that we had to breathe.

I kept wondering all night, if she had liked it as much as I had. This morning, she hadn't mentioned anything; she actually hadn't talked to me either. Well, she wasn't avoiding me; she sat next to me at breakfast, so she must not hate me or anything. I could tell that maybe Fang knew he knew a lot of stuff he didn't need to know. I tired my best not to think about it around Angel, since she had mind reading powers, if she did now anything, she wasn't talking about it.

* * *

Angel's POV

I almost shrieked this morning when I found out. Amazingly Kara had her guard down, so I was able to catch a bit of her thoughts, before she noticed I was listening and blocked them, again. It agitated me that she did that. All I found out was something about Iggy. So, I searched Iggy's mind, trying to find something. I could tell he was trying to hide something, but he wasn't doing a very good job. _Well, at least she isn't avoiding me. Maybe she actually liked last night._ I managed to catch that part, before he tried to distract his thoughts with something else. Something had happened last night, between those two, and I was defiantly going to find out.

I knew for a fact that Iggy totally liked Kara, just like how Fang liked Max. I was glad, kinda. Kara was really nice, a little less kind than Max, but she had reasons. Kara told awesome stories at night and she was really good at handling problems, like Nudge's talkativeness. I patted Celeste's head and thought about it. I searched Iggy's head again and found it! He was thinking about a kiss. I almost shrieked! Iggy had kissed Kara! I was totally happy, and I really wanted to tell Max, but I knew he would want to keep it to himself, just like how Fang kept that kinda love stuff from Max. I hope they tell everyone soon, if not, I was going to burst.

* * *

Max's Pov

Something was up, I could tell. Angel looked ready to burst with news, Fang kept looking at Iggy like something good happened. Kara, it seemed she was less talkative today, and it seemed she was avoiding Iggy. Iggy was unusually quite, the conversation he had with Gasman early this morning, it seemed to have gone in one ear and out the other.

Last night, I had woken up to find both Iggy and Kara missing, it turned out they had just gone for firewood, but even at that moment, they seemed distance. Like when Fang kissed me in the cave, and I didn't want to talk about it. With a group this small, it's very hard to try and avoid someone.

Well what ever the reason, I was so totally going to find out.

* * *

Kara's Pov

I really couldn't take this awkward silence anymore; Nudge and Caleb where the only ones talking, I had the slightest idea on what, maybe the rain? I watched as Iggy, which he must have sense because Iggy turned faced me. Or at least it looked like he was facing me. I gave a very low whistled, telling him where I was. He gave a slight nod and pulled back, towards me. I suddenly became very scared, what if he wanted to talk. I told myself that I had nothing to worry about, I could deal with anything.

* * *

**A/N:** Soo what did you think? Its finally happening. I've been kind of hinting at it, so I hope you weren't too suprised by it. I feel like Iggy always gets the short stick in the books, so I felt I need to give him a little something for once.

Did you hate it? Or love it? You should review and let me know.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

Kara's POV

I tried to control my urge to start hyperventilating as Iggy came up beside me. "Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," I managed to say. I looked at him, and almost stopped flapping. There was something totally different about Iggy that I hadn't noticed yesterday or any of the days before. His strawberry blonde hair came up to his eyes; it was all a mess in a neat way. His light eyes where intense and comforting, with determination and something I didn't recognize.

"Kara, breathe," he ordered. I didn't even know I was holding my breathe, but I took a deep breathe anyway.

"Right, sorry," I said. He chuckled, looking away. I bit my bottom lip, why couldn't I just tell him out righted what I had planned? I took a deep breath and tried to start again. "Iggy, I wanted to tell…" I began, but stopped. He had turned to look at me again, and I had lost my train of thought. It seemed to be happening a lot lately. What had I wanted to tell him again?

"Kara, if it's about yesterday then, I'm sorry," he began, but I interrupted him.

"Oh, no, well kinda. Maybe, I'm not sure anymore," I confessed. He smiled a crocked smile that made me feel a weird.

"You know that you sound like Max after she was done making out with Fang," he told me. I giggled, and a smile spread across his face.

"Maybe I should start, he suggested, "Kara, I…" he stopped suddenly and turned away from us and looked behind us. "Crap," he muttered.

I didn't have to ask what was wrong, because I felt the chilling sensation I always get before something bad happened. I turned towards Caleb, who was staring at me; I knew he had felt it too. I stopped and hovered, listening. I concentrate on not listening to the rants going around me, and that's when I heard it. It was the low whistled sound I feared. I turned and saw that Iggy had heard them too. "Trouble," I stated. He nodded and he headed to where Max and Fang where.

I stopped right in front of Max; she slowed and stopped in front of me too with Fang right behind her. "We've got company," I told her. Her eyes flashed fear, but quickly turned to determination. I knew she was going to make up for freezing the last time. I did a quick 360 spin, checking out the sky. At first, I couldn't see anything, just hear them, but then I focused my gaze on a small black speck. I was concentrating so hard on it, that I couldn't feel Fang come up behind me. He gently tapped me on the shoulders, making me tense up.

"Paranoid," I heard him whisper. I turned and glared at him.

"How many?" he asked. I turned and pointed to the speck, which was getting bigger.

"Can't tell, to far, but they must be a lot if they're making enough noise for us to hear them all the way over here," I told him. I turned and found Caleb on the other side of me, with a look on his face that I would know anywhere.

"No," I told him sternly.

"But Kara," he whined. "No and that's final," I told him sternly.

"Kara, think about it, it would help a lot," he said. I pretended to think about it, "No," I said.

"Kara, you didn't even think about it," he protested.

"I don't need to think about it Caleb, the answer is no. They maybe faster than the last ones or they may have guns. No, no and no," I told him. He glared at me, which didn't happen often.

"Please?" he asked one more time. I shook my head and turned to look at Max, who was staring at us.

"What?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"I'd bet Max would let me do it," whispered Caleb. I turned and glared at him. He knew that would hurt, and it really did. "Fine," I threw my hands up in surrender, a tinge of anger and envy growing inside of me. "But, you have to ask Max, if she says no, then the answer's no," I told him and turned back to look at Max, who was confused.

"Please Max?" he asked her.

"What are you asking me?" she asked him.

"You know I have super speed, right?" she nodded her head slowly, not knowing where this was going, "Well, Kara won't let me go at super speed to see how many flyboys there are, so would you let me?" he asked. Max turned to look at me, but I was busy examining my fingernails.

"That's a really good idea, but no. Kara's right, it maybe dangerous," she told him. He looked upset, "But, that doesn't mean I can't do it," she said, more directly to Fang. They began arguing about it, so I turned back to look at the speck, which was now a blob.

"You better hurry up, they're getting closer," I announced.

"Max, you said it you're self, its way to dangerous," Fang snapped "There's too many for us, we should just keep flying."

Max shook her head, "We have to fight them, they're to close to leave now," she argued. We didn't have time for this, the flyboys where getting closer every second that those two spent arguing.

"Why don't Fang and I stay and hold them off, while you and Kara take the smaller kids to safety. Max, with your super speed you could easily take Gasman and maybe even Nudge. Caleb could carry Angel for awhile and with his super speed he wouldn't get tired and they'd get far before he started to. Kara is faster than us, she could probably make it out too, maybe not as fast as you two could, but it would defiantly put some distance," I stared as Iggy suggested this. There was no way I was going to leave both of these guys to fend for themselves against more than twenty flyboys, especially if they carried what they had with them the last time we meet. I suspected that they had perfected the tranquilizing stuff I was injected with last time, seeing how it had worked.

"I actually agree with the idea," said Fang.

"Oh, don't be such a sexist pig you two!" Max cried.

"Actually, there right. Think about it Max, you could go and get the kids to a safer place and get back here for the fight in time for the four of us take them out," I told her. As she thought about it, Iggy yelled at me, "The four of us? NO, way. You and Max will both go with the little kids, their going to need a leader."

I put my hands on my hips before yelling back at him, "Yeah right! I could take out way more flyboys than you and Fang could do combined. Especially with my powers, we might not even have to fight them off, I could just drop them all to the ground." He glared at me and it looked like he was going to yell at me again, when Max interrupted.

"Kara's right, where doing it her way or no way," she ordered.

"Hey, that's not fair, we want to help too," the younger kids complained. I turned and now you could start to make the outlines of the flyboys.

"Make decisions fast guys, they're coming!" I yelled to them as I got in front of them and started to concentrate on smashing flyboys using telekinesis.

I could tell from a sudden yelp that Max had pulled someone next to her and started to fly off in super speed. "Go Caleb, take care of Angel," I told him as the flyboys came closer and closer.

"But Kara, you promised," he started; I could hear his voice starting to crack. Telekinesis involved concentrating, and that was something I was lacking right now. "Just go Caleb, I'll find you, I promise," I told him as sincerely as I could.

"Fine, come on Angle, give me your hand," he said softly. I didn't watch to see him leave, but I knew that he did, because know only Nudge was left.

Beads of sweat where starting to form on my head, no matter how many I smashed, a new row came up to take there place. I heard a distant sound go of, like a shot gun, and felt as something whizzed past my head. That broke my concentration, and I felt myself stagger backwards a little. I turned, as I felt a strong hand grip my arm from behind.

"Are you okay?" Fang asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, telekinesis involves a lot of concentration and energy," I told him. He nodded, as if he actually knew what I was talking about.

"OMG! What just flew past us?" asked Nudge, I had forgotten she was there.

"Probably a tranquilizer arrow," I told her, "Don't get hit, all you need is one shoot to completely get knocked out for who knows how long," I warned them.

"And you know this how?" asked Fang.

"Well Gazzy and Nudge didn't find me sleeping on some random place," I told him, remembering. How long had I really been out? Had it been a matter of minutes, hours or even, I gulped, days?

"Oh, I wondered what you had been doing on the ground," thought Nudge. Just then, another arrow passed us, barley scratching my shoulder.

"Max isn't going to be back in time is she?" asked Iggy.

I shook my head, "No, the kids where going to need a leader if things don't go well here," I confessed. Iggy nodded and turned his attention back to the flyboys which where getting close.

"How about who ever get's the most wins the losers buy ice cream for?" Iggy suggested.

I smiled and nodded, "You're on, you up for the bet Fang?" I asked him. He gave me a quick smile and nodded. "Prepare to lose," I warned them as I readied myself for the upcoming attack.

The impact came faster than expected. As soon as one was close, I pulled it closer just to give it a round house kick, hitting it in it's weak spot, "One Kara, Zero for everyone else," I joked as I brought up another one. This time, I shoved him back into his little friends, making at least two of them fall. I couldn't see what everyone else was doing because I was caught up doing what I was doing. I was so concentrated on getting the ones in front of me, that I didn't think that anyone would come up from behind. Of course, I was wrong. Something from behind gave me a hard kick right between my wings, making me gasp and tumble into the clutches of another flyboy. I tried to get some air into my lungs, but I couldn't without taking in their hideous odor. This was practically what had happened last time, me getting caught be some flyboy and getting knocked out. This time, things where going to be different, for at least this time I was taking a lot more down with me. I flapped hard and moved the flyboy backwards, bumping into something while we were at it. Then it got smart and started to fight the force I was trying to make. Instead he pushed me into something else, who held my arms and tied them with rope faster than I could think. I could still move my legs so, I kicked spinned it. I managed to knock it out, before I was attacked from the side. I knocked me to the side, crashing both of us into a pack of flyboys. It hurt, being it the same side they'd attacked me from when we last fought them. The brusie was still there and probably just got worse.

They were ready for me, because I was instantly in their metallic clutches, a clothing gagging me as they moved in for the shoot. This time I got a look at the syringe, which was filled to the top with an orange looking liquid. My eyes widened and I tired to struggle and wiggle, anything from getting shoot. _I'm sorry Caleb,_ I thought as I felt the syringe pierce my skin once more. This time I felt the extremely cold liquid enter my veins and travel up and down my arm. My stiffened body relaxed against my protest and I felt my brain begin to shut down. My eye lids felt heavier and heavier with every passing second, until all I saw as an eternal darkness.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh my gosh! What's going to happen now? The flock is seperated again, and we all know that's never good. Read (and review) to find out!


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

Max's POV

I had listened to Kara, I had taken Gasman and flew straight for the mountains that were ahead of us. They were far, and it may have taken me at least ten minutes to get there, even with my speed. I was going to race back and get Nudge, when Caleb swopped past me, carrying Angel. I caught up to him and took Angel from his arms. It was kind of a weird sight, Angel was taller than Caleb, yet he had been almost carrying her. I carried both of them back to the cave where I had Gazzy hidden and laid them down. Caleb looked exhausted, and tried to stand up before I pushed him right back down. "I have to go and help," he managed to say, before he lay down against the wall. I kneeled down and looked at him. He suddenly seemed a lot older than the six year old from this morning, he looked older than Angel even, and she looked pretty grown up at times.

"Kara's a big girl, she can take care of herself," I told him. He nodded and closed his eyes, falling asleep instantly.

"I'll be back," I told Gazzy and Angel as I took of once more into the grayish looking sky. A few minutes ago it had looked blue, but now, it looked almost black, like death. I tried not to think about it as I raced back to where I had left the others.

I stopped dead in my tracks, a helicopter was coming. I hid behind a fir tree and watched. Instantly the door opened and a flyboy held out his arms. What was he going to catch? I watched as a flyboy came out from one of the trees and throw what looked like a body. I froze as I recognized Fang's dark hair and tall structure. Next, another flyboy threw a still struggling Iggy, who had his head tied up in a bag. Nudge's body was next and it looked like she was fighting between moving and staying still. The next body had her hands tied to her back; her mouth was covered with a cloth that no longer had any use, because Kara was just as limp as Fang had been. I thought of going after the helicopter, but then thought of Gazzy and Angel who waited for me to come back. I thought of older Caleb who was there now and younger Caleb who would try to be brave later.

I watched as the flyboys entered and one closed the door behind them. I felt as the propellers moved and blew the wind towards the firs, making them sway. I hit my fist against the fir, I was going to get them back, or so help me god. I waited until I was sure that they had gone, and picked myself up. There was no need for the others to see me this way, they needed me to be strong and that's exactly I was going to do. _**Do you have a plan? **_The voice asked. I nodded _there's always a plan._

* * *

Kara's Pov two day later

I moaned and turned, hitting a very hard wall. My mind went into overdrive and I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I rolled away from the wall on fell of the cot. I forced my eyes open and looked around me, gasping at what I was seeing. I was in a small white room, just barley big enough for the small cot I had found myself on seconds ago. The smell of antiseptic arose old memories. I knew where I was, and I sure wasn't happy about it. I got up off the floor and hurried to the door, it opened only from the outside. I smacked my fist against the door, yelling it to open. I needed to get out, the whitewashed walls in this tiny room made me feel enclosed and I was totally getting claustrophobic.

I stopped and fell to the floor, feeling hopeless. There was no way to get out of this room, no window, no air vent, nothing. The only time I'd remember feeling like this was when I had been tied to a tree, not that long ago. I laughed, wiping the hot tears that had been flowing down my face. That's the second time I had found myself crying. Weeks ago I would have never thought I'd be crying, or feeling helpless, or locked up in a freaking small room!

Time passed and nothing happened. Nobody came up to check if I still alive or if I was rotting away. I found myself humming the tune to Avril Lavinge's song _Girlfriend_, a song the Jinx was often listening to. That's when I considered myself going crazy. I stopped myself before I got up and started dancing or something.

I was hanging upside down from my cot, making a plan of action, for if I ever got out of here, when the door started to open. I was so surprised by the sound that I flipped over, and stood, hands ready for anything. The door only creaked open so much, before a weapon was pushed through. "Get away from the door," a robotic voice croaked. I didn't move, just shifted my feet into a better stance. The door opened wider and a flyboy along with a white coat came in. It amazed me how much we all fit in the itsy pitsy tiny room which was barely big enough for him.

I looked over the white coat that was tall and lanky with black hair, I would be able to take him on. I noticed that he had this big gray bracelet thing in his hand and was slowly inching his way toward me. "What the heck are you doing?" I asked him. He looked bewildered at the fact that I could talk.

"Just give me your arm and there's no need to get hurt," he said as he drew the bracelet open, ready to slap it on my wrist.

"Uh, no. Today, someone's defiantly going to get hurt, and let me tell you at ain't going to be me," I told him as I land a round house kick on his chest. I hit him hard and he went flying into the wall. Next was the flyboy, he'd been standing near the door and now he was stalking towards me. I managed to do a back flip over the robot, barely grazing the roof, and managed to kick him in the lower part of his back. It should have shattered his entire system, but it didn't. Instead he turned around and pointed the taser gun at my chest.

The white coat stood up and brushed of the something from his pants. "You shouldn't have done that," he snickered "We've improved the models and now they are truly perfect." My eyes widened, they where fixed? Now how were we supposed to defeat them? "To bad we couldn't figure out a way to fix your little flock," he snickered.

"What have you done to them?" I shouted at him. A pulse of unwanted energy flowed threw my body. My knees buckled and gave out. The white coat over and slapped the bracelet on my arm, but not before smacking me hard across my face. I could feel the blood in my mouth and spat it at him.

"We're going to have to fix your attitude," he snickered as he singled for the flyboy to go again. I wasn't ready for the charge or the hit of a stick at the back of my head.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that there isn't enough time to fix _**your**_ flaws," I said wearily. The last thing I saw was the smirk on his grin become a scowl, that I knew for sure was going to become permanent.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

Kara's POV

I scrunched my face as I turned toward a ray of light. Groaning, I moved my head back the other way, away from any light. Light? There hadn't been any windows or ways of light to get in, in my last room. Snapping my eyes open I tumbled out of the bed and onto the cold tile floor. I quickly stood up and surveyed the area. I was defiantly in a new room. This once was considerably larger with a small high window in the wall. Unfortunately the walls were still white. While I out stretched my arms, my eyes caught a glance at the gray bracelet around my wrist. Shit. They'd managed to get in on me after all. Tentatively, I placed my hand on it and tried to pry it apart, only to immediately bring back the hand so it wouldn't be shocked. Great, the thing probably had a tracker in it for all I knew and a speaker of some sort as well.

Once more the door squeaked open the only difference was that this time a small, stout woman came wobbling in. She was black, and her super curly hair was pulled back into a small bun. Her eyes showed the fear that I would expected she would have, as well as a bit of pity? Why would this white coat be pitying me? As far as I was concerned they were all sent from Satan himself. "I-I've brought you your bre-breakfast," she whispered as she placed down a small tray of food that she had been holding. I didn't say anything, I just stared at her, well knowing that all my eyes showed were the rage and resentment I had. Her eyes flickered from me to the tray as she quickly turned around and scurried out the door. I heard the sound of a metal key clicking against the knob, so, I wasn't trusted enough to stay in this hell hole with out trying to escape? Hmph seems to me that they do learn from their mistakes.

I glanced at the food that she had left on the small table that was at the foot of my bed. I walked over to it and sniffed it. It smelled really good, but that didn't mean it wasn't any good at all. For all I knew it could be poisoned. Iggy's words rushed back into my memory, _Wow, you really are paranoid. _The very thought of Iggy made my heart ache. Was he alright? I unconsciously picked up my fork and grabbed a couple of eggs and chewed. It wasn't until I had swallowed when I noticed what I did. I dropped the fork onto the plate, and clutched my throat in fear. After a couple seconds, when I was sure I wasn't dead, I picked up the fork again and began eating once more. These eggs tasted the same way that Jinx had made them. I knew Iggy could cook too, and by what the rest of his flock said, he was pretty good at it too. I wonder what's he's doing right now?

* * *

Iggy's Pov

I paced around impatiently in the room that I was in. I was pretty sure it was small, because I had only taken about ten paces before I smashed in the wall. I had no sense of what time it was, or even the day. All I knew was that during one time I had woken up in this inferiorly small room, with this thick bracelet on my wrist, which every time I tried to open it, would shock me.

Nobody had come into this room while I was awake, and I was a pretty light sleeper so I was pretty sure no one had come in when I was asleep. I couldn't feel any temperature changes through out the room, so there wasn't a window anywhere. I didn't ask myself where I was, because it was obvious. I was back at the School. I jumped as I felt and heard the door open. I turned in what I thought would be the direction of the door and waited. Nobody talked, but who ever came in here left something on the ground and had locked the door behind them. I sighed as I got on my hands and knees and started crawling on the floor, making sure I didn't smash whatever it was. My hand sank into something lumpy and wet. I with drew my hand and smelled it. It smelled of apple cinnamon oatmeal, the kind Max bought when I didn't feel like cooking. I whipped my hand on my pants and felt around for a spoon. It frustrated me when I had to do this, feel around for something that could probably be right in front of me. When I at last found the spoon, I picked up the bowl and went to go sit on the bed. Absentmindedly I ate some, it was exactly like the way Nudge made it, right from the package. When the spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl, did I notice that I had just eaten something that could probably have been poisoned? I shrugged the thought away, food was food, right?

* * *

Kara's Pov

Ugh, what the heck was I thing? Eating that? I should have just let myself starve. Since when had my will turned this weak? My stomach flipped and churned, as I banged the door. Someone had to hear me and open the door. They just had to. When I couldn't think I could hold it any longer, the stout lady opened the door. She had a smug look on her face as she told me where the bathroom was. I glared at, and would have glared at her longer along with adding a snappy comment, had my stomach not given an unpleasant twist.

I barley got to the bathroom in time. Good thing they hadn't changed anything from last time. It was the only bathroom on this floor that I knew of anyway, so naturally it was coed. Thank goodness no one was in there when I pushed the swinging door open. I didn't make it to the toilet before my stomach went upside down. Surprisingly, there was one of those tall trash cans near the door, covered in an easy to dispose of bag. Apparently I wasn't the only one that would use it for this reason.

I placed my hands on the cold, metal outer edge, bracing myself as I heaved up this morning's breakfast. Now was one of those times that I wished I would listen to Jinx when she'd complain about me not ever, or hardly ever, have my hair up. I couldn't hold my hair back, for if I let go of the can, then I wouldn't be balanced and fall forward.

I heard the door swing open, and a low sigh, probably from pity. Right now I wasn't in the position to argue with anyone, so I let it go. The person came up from behind me, making sure not to get to close, and held my hair back. When I finished, they handed me a paper napkin, which I took with gratitude. As I cleaned my face, it most have gotten the courage to speak up. "What'd they make you swallow? Plutonium?" he asked curiously. His voice was rough, and cold. It sounded dry from having little or no water, and yet there was a tinge of calmness and reassurance. Something in the back of my mind told me about the familiarity of it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"No idea," I commented as I stood up straight. I wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve. There was this really long, agonizing silence, where part of me wanted to turn around and see who it was, while the other part was afraid that I had come to a conclusion that wasn't.

"Kara?" he asked in a whispery voice. He grabbed my arms and turned me around, making me face him. I stared at his features: his dusty brown curly hair, long enough to cover his eyes; his tan skin, bruised at the bottom of his jaw; the slender noise that obviously had been broken; dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep, and his eyes, his eyes were hard as stone, with barley any hint of emotion, hope. Hope for the truth to be told, for the need to know that what he was seeing was something that wasn't from his dreams, but real, and in front of him. Finally, I made myself look deeply into his dark green eyes, so similar, yet different from my own. As I looked into his eyes, I knew all that had happened, all he had been through. After all, I could read my brother like a book.

* * *

**A/N:** I felt like there was time for a little reunion. So now that they're back, what are they going to do? Not take it lying down of course! I didn't make them wusses after all.

JP own his characters. I own mine.

Review!


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Kara's POV

"Eion?" I asked my voice hopefully and barely above a whimsy whisper. His eyes immediately light up and he pulled me into a tight hug that sort of hurt. Wow, he had gotten stronger. A lot stronger.

"I knew it! I knew it was you. Wow, Kara, you look different. How'd you get here? What happened after the fight?" Eion asked excitedly and rapidly. He made me laugh, something that felt so good to do. I hadn't noticed how much I've missed him, and that sent a roll of sadness my way. Naturally, Eion noticed. "You don't have to tell me now if you don't want to," he said quickly. I shook my head.

"It's just that I missed you so much. I didn't think I would get to see you again, I thought I had lost you," I said, my voice cracking. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes; I turned away from Eion and wiped them away.

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here now. Everything is going to be okay," he said quietly, pulling my into a protective hug, while sending off reassuring waves. I buried my face into his shirt. He had gotten taller from the last time I'd seen him. That had been what? A two weeks ago? Four weeks? Months? I couldn't tell anymore. Either he'd gotten a hormonal growths spurt, or a chemical one. I stayed there in his grasp, never wanting to leave the familiarity and protectiveness from it, but I knew it couldn't be that way. Reluctantly, I pulled away slow, and he let go slow. "You okay?" he asked. I nodded and took a deep breathe in before letting it out slowly.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I reassured him. He nodded and we stood there, not knowing what to do next. We both heard the footsteps coming closer and the handle turn. Before I realized what had happened, the door was opening; Eion had pushed me behind him, his wings acting as a shield from the stranger. He got into a fighting stance, ready to pounce on the enemy. How had he done that so fast? It was a lot faster than I would have to been able to do, that's for sure. I heard him let out a warning growl, and the unfurling of someone else's wings. I couldn't resist any longer and I peeked from over his shoulder. I gasp as I saw who it was. I put a hand on my brothers shoulder, making sure he wouldn't do anything, and looked into the eyes of the arriver.

"Fang?"

* * *

Max's Pov- two days ago

We had been flying for half a day now, westward. It had taken longer for Caleb to wake up, and that was to be expected, he had practically carried Angel over a distance of over seven miles, and she weighed more than he did. Not to mention that he had just lost Kara, again. I expected him to take it hard when he awoke, but he didn't. His instincts were sharp at once, immediately up to date on what was happening and where we were heading to. He had practically taken command, and he would have, had I not been there. Now we were flying west at a speed of over 80mph, but it didn't seem to be fast enough for him. The last couple of hours I had seen him change from a really sweet, innocent kid who acted as though nothing were wrong, to the kid he really was; overly mature for his age, physically and emotionally, a six year old who kid who worried on whether or not the next meal would come from the dumpster or the desert, a kid who worried whether his only family was still holding strong. All of this from a six year old. Not even Angle was this mature, or have these many things to worry about. At least she knew she could count on me or Fang, or anyone else from our flock, but this kid, he had no one and he was taking it extremely good.

I thought back to what Jeb had said before, how there animal instincts were sharper than ours, and it showed. An animal separated from its flock would know how to survive in the wild by itself, if until it found its family, or if it didn't. That's exactly what I could see in him, his gears turning, figuring out his options now and weighing them, knowing each one could have a different consequence than the other. That was a lot of pressure; I didn't even think about us that far, I took it one day at a time.

Angle must have seen this too after all she had a better insight than I did on him right now, for she flew up to him and took his hand. He looked at her, shocked, but didn't let go, instead he gripped it tighter. I started to see the option he couldn't, and I knew that was what I was going if we didn't make it.

God, please don't let us get there to late.

* * *

Kara's Pov-back at School

"Fang?" I asked him, wondering if really was him. It looked like him, from his black attire to his olive skin, but I couldn't help but wonder.

"Kara?" he asked, not taking his eyes of Eion.

"Kara, do you know him?" Eion asked me, not taking his eyes of Fang.

"Yeah, he's part of the story," I told him. Eion reluctantly tucked his wings in, but his gaze never left Fang. Fang did the same. I stepped around Eion, and stood between the two, making sure they wouldn't kill each other. "Eion, this is Fang, he was part of the flock that helped me after the battle. Fang, this is my brother Eion," I introduced them to each other. Fang nodded in recognition, and Eion returned it. Right, this was getting nowhere. I was going to start up a conversation, but I got the queasy, churning feeling in my stomach again. I looked around, this time the toilet was closer than the trash can, so I ran to the closest stall and locked the door, before kneeling down and continuing what I'd started minutes before. I heard movement, and the expected calmness. Between the stops and the starting up again, I could hear them whispering and I could actually make some out.

"Is she okay?" I heard Fang asked with genuine concern. I was surprised; I honestly thought that he didn't care. I could feel Eion's resentment of hearing Fang like that, he didn't like other people caring for his family, and neither had I but things changed, after all wasn't Caleb in Max's care now?

"She's going to be fine, just another one of their experiments. We got through it all those years ago and we'll get through it now," he said, emphasizing on the we. There was the silence that happened when you didn't know what to say next. Fortunately they didn't need to, I had just finished and I walked out of the stall. I walked in between them and went to go wash my face and hands. I took the liberty of washing the acid feeling out of my mouth while I was at it. I turned back to look at the two guys, who were in some sort of stare down.

"Right, so now what's the plan?" I asked, breaking their showdown. Eion turned to look at me and then back to Fang.

"Well, I know for sure that the rest of the gang will be thrilled to see that you're okay. Jinx has been all insane, singing Avril Lavinge and all that," he said. I laughed, I could just imagine Jinx doing that, and Streak getting all pissed off because of it. He didn't like those kinds of songs.

"So, Fang, you haven't seen Nudge or Iggy have you?" I asked him, very curious to know. He flashed me one of his I-know smiles, he knew what I really wanted to know was about Iggy. How he knew that was something I was going to have to get out of him real soon. I gave him I'll-get-you-later stare and waited for him to answer.

"Actually, I just saw Iggy about an hour ago, here in the bathroom ironically. I've started coming in here about every fifteen minutes, seeing if I could find anyone else," he said, staring at me the whole time, as if trying to tell me something, "I haven't managed to find Nudge though, I know nothing about her," he continued while clenching his fist. I felt the sudden wave of calmness overcome the bathroom, Fang's fist unclenched. He gave Eion this look, but dropped it.

"What does she look like?" Eion asked me. I turned up to look at him, I'd almost forgotten about him.

"Practically a perfect image of Jinx," I told him, "Mouth and all." He shivered and I laughed. It made him smile I guess I hadn't done that in while. He got his thinking face on and well thought.

"I think I know where she is," he said, looking at me instead of at Fang, who was that really wanted to know.

"Really? How?" I asked him.

"Well, there's supposed to be this new girl moving in with Jinx. Supposedly she arrived about four days ago," he said, "That could be her." Four days? If that really was Nudge than had I been sleeping for three days to finally wake up today? I got the rumbly feeling in my stomach and knew I was going to have to stay here a while.

"Well you two should go check it out, I'm going to be stuck her awhile," I told them as I moved toward the stalls. Both of them gave this I'm-not-going-with-him expression. I stopped in front of Fang.

"You can trust him," I told him, "He's my brother and I trust him with my life, so chill." I turned to Eion who was watching me closely. "It's okay, you can trust him. They've been trusting me so far so I figure its the least we can do, so don't get all brotherly on me," I told him, smiling. He sighed and smiled back.

"Fine, but if I get killed, I'm never talking to you again." He said very seriously.

* * *

**A/N: **A little sibling love. So tell me what you think and comment. James P. owns Maximum Ride.

All I own is Kara and her family. Sigh**.**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

Fang's POV

I really didn't know if I could trust this kid. I mean I barely just started trusting Kara, so why couldn't I trust her brother? Maybe it had to do with the fact that he had been here for the last weeks or so, not knowing what kinda of experiments they'd done to him. Yet I had to, if I was going to find Nudge at all. Besides the bruises on his face showed the sign of struggle so at least we both didn't want to be here.

We walked silently down the corridor, not to close to one another. I could tell he was thinking this over, by the look on his face, the same one Kara got on when she was thinking. "I guess I should be thanking you," he mumbled as we walked. I looked at him, had he really said that? "You know, for helping my sister an all." I could tell that was hard for him to say. He seemed like the kind of person that didn't like others caring for his family; we were more alike than I might have thought.

"Actually, we should be thanking her," I told him. Had I really just said that? Normally I kept to myself, but now I felt all mushy. I remembered his power then, and mentally cursed him. "If it wasn't for her, we might of have had to eat squirrel again," I said jokingly. He looked me confused, how was I going to explain this to him? "Well you see it was Nudge and Gasman who found Kara, actually. Unconscious. She ended up asking if they wanted food, they said yes but only if they brought the rest of us. She said yes, they got us, we followed her and ate. So that's pretty much what happened, so will you please stop making me feel all mushy that I want to spill my guts?" I asked him irritated. He smiled and the feeling went back to calmness.

"She must really trust you if she told you about my ability," he said.

"Not that she had much choice," I mumbled under my breath, remembering when we had tied her to a tree. I wasn't about to tell him that. Not for a long while if I had to. "So, how do you know where Nudge is staying?" I asked him. His methods of knowing interested me.

"I'm not on their side, if that's what you're thinking," he told me. Actually that was exactly what I was thinking. "It's like you said, I make them feel gushy that they'd like to spill their guts," he said smugly. I was starting to like this guy. But that didn't mean I trusted him.

* * *

Eion's POV

I watched Fang carefully. I didn't know what to think of him, but Kara kind of trusted him, so I should too. But earlier she had cried, something she hadn't done in more than a decade, exposing that she was vulnerable, and that wasn't like her. She had shone anything from raging uncontrollable anger; I didn't like that, to a whim of embarrassment, hence the lettuce incident, but never had she shone sadness. I have felt her sadness, but she kept it to herself, keeping the happy image for everyone else. But today was something so totally different, it was a mixture of a lot of things. Anger, sadness, embarrassment, relief, happiness, resentment. She was starting to confuse me.

I walked next to Fang in a comfortable silence. This guy reminded me a lot like Streak, quite and isolated. Maybe not isolated, but defiantly not a people person. That reminds me, I have to meet Streak in the bathroom later; the only place not supervised, and tell him of Kara. I stopped at a yellow door, and knocked it three times, stopped, knocked three times again. It was our secret signal, it meant safe.

The door barley opened, but it was wide enough for someone to peep through. The big brown eye looked at me, happiness flickering in her eyes, then over to Fang. _Who's that?" _she asked me. "Fang, he's with that other girl, Fudge. I mean Nudge," I whispered to her. She nodded and opened the door wider and I moved aside. Thankfully Fang was in front, because that other girl crashed in to him, her arms landing around his waist in a hug.

"Fang!" she screamed. I caught Fang's elbow and held him steady.

"Hey Nudge," he said, while ruffling her out of control hair. I ushered both of them inside, away from peeping ears.

"OMG Fang, I didn't think I ever see you again. Or anyone for that matter since I used to be stuck in this small white room. Have you seen Iggy? Oh and Kara. Hey did you know that this is Jinx! She was in Kara's first flock! I told her that you'd help her find her, isn't that right Fang?" she said all at once. This girl was defiantly another Jinx, only her voice could be heard out loud. I sat on one of the small cots and pulled Jinx onto my lap.

"Guess who I found in the bathroom," I whispered in her ear. She turned around and smiled, her eyes getting hugged. Kara? She mouthed. I nodded. She squealed and bounced off my lap. _Then what are we waiting for! Let's go to the bathroom!_ She thought loudly in my ear. The only way to know that someone was here was if you meet them in the bathroom.

* * *

No Pov

The four of them walked quietly back to the bathroom. If anyone knew of them heading back to the bathroom, it was going to get them in trouble. They we're smart here, the white coats, they knew that even though they couldn't place surveillance in the bathroom, they could restrict the number of people then restricting the chances of escape. When they opened the bathroom door they stopped at the sight of two figures embracing one another. At first Fang thought that it was a clone copy of himself, but when he looked closer, he knew it wasn't. First off, he wasn't as tan as the person next to Kara. Jinx had pulled loose from Eion's grip and ran toward Kara. Kara knelt down and embraced Jinx, who was now sobbing onto her shirt. "Aw Jinx, your getting my shirt damp and salty," Kara teased as she let Jinx go. Jinx whipped her nose with her sleeve and smiled back at Kara. Kara turned to look at Fang and Nudge, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Hey, I see you found Nudge," she said. Jinx and Nudge then sprang into telling the story of how they found each other and how Nudge was moved into Jinx's room. Through out the whole time Eion had his arm protectively across Kara's shoulders and Streak was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, but his eyes flickering from Kara to Jinx to the door, on guard. From Fang's point of view, these people were definitely paranoid. But he gave them the beneath of the doubt, after all it was like a grand reunion. His mind wandered, would he and Nudge get to have their reunion with Max and the rest? Streak's eyes flickered to the door, standing straight and attentive. Eion watched him and grabbed both Jinx and Kara, and pushed them behind him as he went to stand next to Streak. Fang could distinctly hear Kara sigh in frustration; she was getting tired of being pushed behind. Fang now heard the footsteps get closer and stop at the door. So that's why they freaked. He followed their lead, pushing Nudge behind him, ready to fight if he needed to.

Fortunately, there was no fighting. Instead the door opened to reveal an exhausted and very alarmed Iggy.

* * *

**A/N:** Reunions are nice? Aren't they?

MR and Gang (c) JP

Storm Gang, and others not from MR (c) ME!

Review! Please and Thank You!~


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

No Pov

Iggy opened the door to the hoping to find Fang again, or Nudge or hopefully even Kara. He had been thinking about her since he had woken up, the antiseptic smell filing his head, knowing he was back at school.

Now with the door opened not only did he hear the breathing of one person, but six? He didn't know what to do and being blind didn't help the situation. He didn't have the time to react as the pair of callused hands pulled him inside, closing the door behind him. "Iggy," a voice said, sounding exactly as Nudge shouted. Instantaneously two arms were wrapped around him, holding him in a tight hug. He skimmed his hand over the top of the head, feeling the thick mass of uncontrollable curly hair.

"Hey Nudge."

* * *

Jinx Pov

The door opened and I peeked from behind Eion to see who it was. At the door stood an older looking version of Caleb –we maybe not a very good older version, they just kinda looked alike because of the hair- standing there looking confused. I glanced at his eyes, they were a very light color, seeming hazed and unfocused, preventing him from seeing.

The tall dark boy named Fang dragged the boy in, closing the door behind him. Nudge threw her arms around the boy, calling Iggy in the process. I turned to look at Kara, who was watching over Eion's shoulder, awed, and I tugged her sleeve. She looked down and I quickly singed to her_ Do you know him?_ I asked her. She nodded quickly and turned back, not bothering to explain. I sighed, frustrated, and looked back again. Nudge was still embracing him, his hands was lightly skimming the top of her head, trying to identify her. I could feel Eion untense and I turned to see Kara placing a calming hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, and she stared back at him. They were in one of their silent conversations that not even I knew what was going on. Once Streak saw Eion's hands go down, his did too, but his eyes were still tense and focused.

Streak was like that, second most paranoid in the group, aside from Kara that is. But I couldn't blame him, not with what they did. I shuttered, gaining a look from all three of them. I shrugged. Both Eion and Streak turned back, but Kara was still looking at me. I felt a great relief pass through. Even when we told her we were okay, she didn't do anything but stare at us until she found out what she wanted. You couldn't ignore her dark green eyes that harden at her command, not even Eion, her own twin, could ignore them._ Just reminiscing in old memories, I swear. _I told her quietly. She narrowed her eyes, she didn't approve in much reminiscing about the past, the dark years. Or darker years actually, we weren't much into the golden age yet. She let it go, but I knew she'd be on my case later.

I turned my attention back to the boy named Iggy and the other two. Fang was whispering in his ear, probably explaining things to him. Iggy's eyes wandered over to us, or more directly to Kara. I felt my eyes narrow, something had gone on during the last weeks between the two of them. Of course, I thought so to Kara, who made sure not to make eye contact with me as she denied it. I'd work on her later.

* * *

Kara's Pov

Iggy was here. I didn't know what to do. First of all, I was still mad at Eion for pushing me behind him. What was he thinking? Wasn't I the one that did that? I had been doing it for more than fifteen years after all. Then there was Jinx, who was thinking about the olden days, even though she knew I didn't like that. I don't know why though, I just bothered me. Of course, I couldn't control their thoughts, but I didn't like telling myself that. Great, now I sounded like a tolitarian ruler, wanting to control everyone and what they thought.

I had my silent conversation with Eion. We don't know how it happens, it just did. Probably the twin telepathy thing. While I lectured him silently about pushing me behind, I also heard Fang whisper words to Iggy. He was probably catching him up to that very moment. His eyes moved to mine, I don't know how he did that, kinda scary.

There was an awkward silence through out the whole restroom. I felt the bracelet around my wrist tighten, sending a static wave through my arm. I cried out and began to fall backwards, I'd lost my footing. Thankfully I was caught be Eion and Streak, each one holding my hand. They pulled me up, my face starting to darken with embarrassment. I saw Iggy take a step back, it looked like he was going to come forward, but thought better. Silently I cursed this place as I rubbed my wrist. "You've been in here too long," Streak told me, holding his hand out. I let him look at the gray thing. His voice was a little rough too, like Eion's, but it could have been from lack of use, which is what I suspected. "Yours is a new version, it's going to take me more than a paper clip to get it to stop doing that," he said examining the blasted thing. I huffed. I shocked me again.

"Oww, that was harder than last," I said.

"It's going to get up a higher voltage for every two minutes your still here," Streak said, his eyes showing amazement. I could tell he want to open it up and see how it worked.

"How high does it go?" I asked him, not sure if I wanted the answer.

"We're not going to find out," Eion said, and started pushing me towards the door. "We'll get you if we come up with anything." I glared at him. He glared back. My glares weren't as effective on him as it was to the rest. "Fine, I'll get you later," he said, looking away. I smiled and walked past Fang. _Be Careful,_ I mouthed to him, making sure they didn't see. He gave the tiniest nod, barley noticeable by anyone. I walked around them making sure to brush by Iggy and walked out the door.

I started walking down the hallway that I think I'd come through before. I was in a hurry to get to the bathroom before that I couldn't remember which way I had come through. It looks like they have changed a few things from last time. At least the stupid bracelet had stopped zapping me now that I was out of the bathroom and moving. I turned right then another right before making a left. I'm pretty sure I walked in circles for a while, I kept seeing the same scratch mark on the wall over and over again. I didn't want to think who or what made it and for what reason, so I never did anything but glance at it.

I don't know if it was fate or luck, but I ran into Iggy. Or crashed actually. See, I hadn't been watching were I was going, I was just cursing the constructor of the building for not having signs or something when I crashed into him. He fell backwards and I fell on top of him. I groaned and got off him, rolling to the side. I managed to lean against the wall, still sitting down. "Hey," I said, helping him up. His face brightened at the sound of my voice. I couldn't imagine how horrible it must be, being blind.

"Hey," he said back.

"Sorry for crashing into you like that, it's just that I was lost and I didn't know where I was going because I was cursing the const" I had to stop. It's pretty hard to talk when someone had their lips on yours. I still don't know how he did that, managing to kiss me with perfect measurement. He pulled me closer, letting the kiss deepen. I didn't do anything, but return it. I had no idea how much I'd missed him and how worried I was about him till then. It confused me. I don't know why, it just did.

I pulled back for a breath of air, reluctantly I might add. My breath, like his, was staggered. "I've missed you," he said, "Not to mention I've been thinking about you every since I've been awake."

"Oh, that's sweet. I've missed you too," I told him. He smiled. Have I mentioned that these walls echo? Well lucky for us at that moment we heard the echo sounds of foot steps closing in. My eyes widened and I looked at Iggy, he heard them too.

"Talk to you later?" he whispered. I nodded, and then remembered who I was talking too.

"Yeah," I said and walked around him. I couldn't tell where the footsteps were coming from, but they seemed to be getting closer. I started to walk faster, but the sound just got closer and louder. Again I crashed. Only I crashed into someone I didn't want too.

"Hello Kara. Nice to see you," the voice of the devil spoke. I looked up, not wanting to, but having to. I put on a fake smile, placing my hands on hips I found the long hidden anger start to boil. I glared up, feeling my eyes turning ice cold, like the rest of my body. People say my cold stare could rise the dead and place them back in their bed.

"Hello Jeb."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

Kara's POV

He smiled down at me, like if he had finally found his long lost daughter. Except I wasn't, Max was. To me he used to play the father figure, but not anymore. Feeling the pool of anger that was gathering in the pit of my stomach, I forced myself to control it. Thinking about it, I figured that I could use it to my advantage. I forced the energy to flow through my body to my eyes, where I did all my talking.

He flinched but managed to regain his posture, only his eyes started to tint slowly into pools of fear and doubt. No longer were they calm. "Can I help you?" I asked him, keeping my voice cool even though that wasn't what I was feeling.

"I was seeing if I could help you back to your room," he said calmly. I laughed.

"You want to help me?" I asked him, eyebrows raised. He nodded, uncertain where this was going.

"I've always wanted to help. I'm on your side." Something inside me popped. The pool that had been forming erupted and was froming into a massive hurricane of fury, fast.

"On my side! That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," I yelled at him, fist clenched at my side. "FYI, Jeb, there are no sides. Life has no sides but an opposite and it is death. Are you death Jeb?" My voice was rising with every word.

"No," he said, his voice barley over a whisper. I looked at him outraged.

"You aren't?" I asked him sarcastically. "Well you've been doing a lousy job of showing it. You're meaning to tell me that you didn't leave us here to die four years ago?" He looked about to contradict me, but I stopped him. "I saw the list Jeb. You know, the one with our name's on it for termination. The one with your signature of approval at the bottom." He closed his mouth, I'd gotten him there.

"It was never meant to happen," he said through gritted teeth. I laughed, probably sounding crazy.

"Yeah like you were going to come back and rescue us, it wasn't going to happen. Or it wasn't supposed to be us?" He didn't answer, but his eyes did the talking. I couldn't tell if my furry was dying down or numbing me. "I get it. Wait, no I don't. Was it because she's your daughter? Well let me break it to you, you've lost her, just like you lost Ari," he winced, but I just kept going. "Eyes are the gate to the soul, and even at the slightest mention of you, hers turn black with the deepest of hate. They see, I see and even you see it." He slapped me. Simple as that. I looked back at him, not wanting to touch the sting hand mark that was across my face. He looked surprised. I'd pushed him to his limits.

"I…I…I'm sorry," he said, walking away. I watched as he turned the corner, his footsteps echoing away from me. I was still mad, but it was dying down and I could feel the sting worsen. I turned around heading the opposite direction of Jeb, when something stepped out of the shadows.

"Are you okay?" Fang asked. I nodded, not wanting to say anything. He eyed the mark on my face. I walked around him and headed back for the bathroom, or where I think the bathroom was. It didn't occur to me that everyone had probably heard my screams, the walls passing it on to anyone who was in the halls. If that was it, then Eion already knew, not to mention he was probably feeling the anger surrounding me. Fang heard it and now he knew why I hated them so much in the beginning. Why I'd been hating them my whole life.

* * *

**A/N: Someone has problems… So, you interested? Review with questions and/or comments. If you don't the white coats shall track you down and mess with your DNA. If you do, I personally guarantee that you won't be tracked down. :D **


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

Kara's POV

I walked in frustration around the whole floor for who knows how long. If anyone had heard me yell, they were apparently avoiding me now. I think I may have saw Streak in the shadows, but I didn't care to look closely enough to find out. The stinging that was across my face didn't die down. But at least it didn't worsen.

I think I may have passed my room once, but I wasn't sure so I kept walking. Oddly enough, no white coats weren't in the halls. Weird. They weren't comparing notes or sharing gossip as usual. The halls were deserted. Either this was a 'test' or they were avoiding me. I really hope it was the second one because it meant they were afraid of me.

It took a while for me to calm down. Last time I'd exploded like that Eion was with me and it took him less than ten minutes to get me back to regular anger mood. Now, I was totally without him, at it took me more than half an hour to get more or less back to normal. At least I could actually feel my body now.

I got tired of walking around so I just decided to sit down. I slumped down against a wall and sat there, knees pulled into my chest. Eventually someone would have to walk past and help me get back to my room. I closed my eyes and sighed. I couldn't help but wonder how Max was doing and hoping she was having a way better time than I was.

* * *

Max's Pov

I was feeling horrible. I felt really bad for Caleb and how he couldn't zip ahead of us so I'd let us fly through the rain. So as you might be able to guess, I had a cold. A freaking annoying cold. Now it was going to take us even longer if we had sat out the storm. I could tell Caleb was trying not to get mad at me, he knew I was only trying to help. Besides, I was mad enough for the both of us.

Looking at Caleb, it seemed that every hour he grew more mature. He defiantly looked older and different from the first day we met. Angle was trying her best to cheer him up and so was Gazzy by singing the constipated song with him, but his eyes weren't twinkling like before.

Acho. Acho. Great, I sound like a dying cat. I hate cats.

* * *

Kara's Pov

I sat there, against the cool wall, not moving. My eyes were closed, and I kept breathing silently in and out. Something moved near me, but I didn't move. The steps got closer and closer and my paranoia got stronger and stronger and I kept wanting to open my eyes, but I didn't. I finally could stand it anymore and I had to open my eyes. In front of me stood Jinx, silent tears coming down her face. Only three of us hadn't known that Jeb had left us to die. Caleb, Karlie and Jinx were the only ones who didn't know. Well, now Jinx knew. I guess she was holding some small hope that Jeb wasn't completely evil.

I outstretched my arms and she came over and sat herself up on my lap. I wrapped my arms around her as she silently cried against my shirt. If you thought about it, we were quite an odd sight, it was really weird. I mean here we were at the Emporium, where we were practically at Death's door, and all we were doing was sitting in silence.

Only God knows how long we sat there, long enough for Jinx to doze off, that's for sure. She'd finally stopped crying, not that it did any good to my shirt, and she was sleeping peacefully as one could at Hell.

I took this time to think. My arms were aching for no apparent reason. I couldn't flex them because I was still holding onto Jinx. Sleep looked good. I closed my eyes for a sec and imagined a peaceful sleep.

Someone gently tapped me on the shoulder and I opened my eyes instantly, it was Streak. He motioned to Jinx, who was still asleep on my lap. I nodded and he gently picked her up off me and carried her to her room. I got up and stretched, my arms aching. I turned back to look back at Streak who was carrying Jinx down the hall, knowing were he was going. Lucky him. I on the other hand was still lost.

* * *

**A/N: **I know that this is random, especially Max's Pov, but I just wanted the day to end and end it quickly so I could start anew. James P own MR. and don't forget to review!


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

Kara's POV

I can't believe I was doing this all over again. After last night's little performance I was doing time. It might have gotten a little out of hand, I agree with that, but that jerk Jeff deserved it. Anyway, I guess I was serving my punishment today.

The footsteps of my "carrier" Jane, the same woman who'd feed me the lead infested eggs yesterday, woke me. No wonder I'd puked it up, my body had been rejecting it. And the weird arm sensation, it was the lead remants pumping through my body. They'd remembered my weakness and took the first chance they could to get me weak. Guess they were afraid I'd break out in record time.

I don't sleep much here and any sleep I do get its super light. By the time Jane had opened the door, I was already up and waiting for her. I was planning to ambush, but she had on of those tassers, so I didn't risk it. Normally I could have taken a few shocks, but I still wasn't up to my 100%, lead still running through my system. But it didn't mean I wasn't going without a fight.

Evading the damn stick as much as I could, I ducked down under her, knocking her down with a swing of my leg. She had a shocked look on her face as she did so. I leaped over her, making my way down the hall. I didn't know where I was going, but it was out. If I got lucky I'd find the rest of my flock along the way and we'd all bust out together. Well luck wasn't with me, he must have been very far away at the moment because when I rounded the corner I saw what awaited me. Flyboys, about twenty of them. Too many for me to take down, too many of them to evade. I took my chance, and ran at them. Not one of my light bulb moments. The minute I crashed into the robot with my shoulder, not the best thing to do by the way, I knew there was no point.

I don't know how it happened, but I ended up being carried over some flyboys shoulder. I tried him hitting in the lower back, but nothing happened, he was an upgrade. Great. We stopped and I could hear footsteps coming nearer. Not good footsteps. Something sticked me on the side and I had to bite my tongue from scream. The volts that came through the stick were incredibly high and hurtful. I could feel the blood pooling in my mouth from biting my tongue, but I couldn't show weakness, not here. Not ever. "That will show you some respect," Jane gushed as she pulled back. I turned around and glared at her, making sure to give her my scary one. It worked, giving me small pleasure. "Throw her into room 15," she ordered to the flyboy.

Now, if you're hoping that room 15 is full of rainbows and candy and fluffy pillows, then what have you been reading? I demand you go back and read it all over again from the beginning. Now, those of you how have better sense than that, I congratulate you, you probably know that it isn't going to be that way, no matter how much I pray.

I was thrown into the room, landing on my hurt shoulder. It felt horrible landing on there, it made me feel like shit. Volts of electricity rose from the floor, threatening to continue on shocking me if I didn't get up. Smart as I am, I obeyed, miraculously and leaped up. It was one of those floors that if you stopped, you'd get shocked. I hated them over four years ago and I hated them now. "You mission now, number two, is to go through the obstacle as fast as possible. All you have to do is complete it once, and we're through for the day," a voice said. Not in my head, like Max's so called voice, but it was projected into the room by a projector. I smirked, this was way too easy. Once through the game and done? Yeah right, I bet it was covered in traps ready to kill me.

Figuring I could get this done faster, I sprinted upward, snapping my wings open. I made sure not to get anywhere near the electrical net above and zoomed on ward. I noticed the few seconds that I'd been hovering, that not moving in air still shocked me. Tiny little harmless shocks, but still something. They'd planned for this. They always do.

I stumbled to the bathroom, hoping not to find anyone there. I'd just spent the last four and a half hours finish up their stupid test. I'd had to say, they'd gotten smarter with them. Now if they could only apply their minds to something useful, like stopping world hunger or something. But no, they had to use their minds on stupid, hurtful things, like stealing babies and experimenting on them. Stupid idiots.

* * *

Streak's Pov

I was in the bathroom, washing my hands when I heard the door open. It sounded, like it was being pushed with a lot of force, who ever was opening it was having a hard time doing so. It couldn't be a flyboy and I could take on a whitecoat anytime so I went over to open it. It must have caught the person unexpected, because the stumbled forward. I caught them in time from falling, recognizing them as Kara. I helped her in, closing the door behind her.

She looked like horrible. I was still holding her up, me finally being taller than her now helped. Her wings were out, something that she never did in this place, feathers out of place and some looked to be missing. I took a closer looked and identified blood covering a lot of area. I looked her over and saw that the rest of her was in no better shape. "What did they do to you?" I asked her, my voice dead serious. Those idiots had done something again, last week it was with Eion and now her. I could feel the anger rising inside me and it took a lot of concentration for me not to leaver her here and go off to murder the whole institution.

"I'm okay," she lied. I could hear the strain in her voice as she said so.

"Sure, and I have amazing eyesight," I told her. She tried to stand by herself now, getting up slowly. Once she stood up right, she tried to take a step forward, only to have her legs go out from under her. Expecting this to happen, I caught her before she feel far. "Now will you listen to me?" I didn't get a reply, I wasn't expecting one.

I knew how hard this was for her, she'd never liked showing any of us that she could be weak and helpless at times. She didn't cry for that reason, no matter how much she wanted too. Personally I thought that was stupid. For crying out loud she's only 16 and already takes care of us and has this whole paranoia issue. Normally 16 year old didn't have to deal with this, I think. I wouldn't know exactly, I'm not normal.

I felt her sleeves start to get wetter than they had been. Whatever had happened to her arms was more serious than I thought. I'd have to get help, from Eion most likely, if I did it all myself I wasn't going to be fast enough to stop her from losing so much blood. "Don't get Eion," Kara mumbled like she knew what I was thinking. Or maybe it was just out of habit.

"I can't do it alone, I'm not fast enough. You'll die of blood lose," I told her, trying my best to convince her. She shook her head and tried to get up. I was more tentative this time, I didn't want her hurting herself even more.

She stood and stayed up, but I could see her face get paler because she was trying so hard. She walked over to the sink and turned it on. She turned back to me, "Go get the stuff, I'll be fine, I promise," she told me. I didn't know whether to believe her or not, but I was wasting time standing there. I nodded and went out the bathroom.

* * *

Kara's Pov

I heard Streak shut the door behind him and I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't think he'd leave, not that I was glad he did. I held onto the sink for support as I gently and slowly rolled up my arm sleeves. Each roll was painful and slow. That's what I got for going through a tunnel of wire. They should have healed by now, but they weren't meaning I'd gone through a lead wire tunnel. Great. Once I'd gotten them above my elbows, I slowly placed them into the rushing water. I shut my eyes as the cold, clear water fell upon the cuts, and feel into the sink as waterfalls of blood.

The smell was intoxicating, rusted salt filled my nose. Ugh, disgusting. Thinking back today was like nothing compared to old times. My body just wasn't used to so much work after about 4 years of escaping and such. Back then this would probably be nothing, if I could remember it clearly. It was all fuzzy, like if that part had been wiped. I guess it was for the better.

My arms were starting to get numb from the cold water by the time Streak got back. When I heard the door open I heard two pairs of footsteps enter. I turned around to find both Streak and Fang. I groaned. I think I would have been better off with Eion than Fang. "You just had to bring him, didn't you?" I asked Streak as he came over. He was holding roles of white bandage and what looked to be disinfectant.

"You stained the sink red," he observed, ignoring my question. I looked back and shut the water off.

"Don't change the subject, and besides it looks good, stands out from the rest," I told him. He smirked and set the stuff down. From the corner of my eye, I could see Fang observing me, checking out the damage. I'd seen the same look on Eion's face a batrillion times. "I'm fine, just some minor cuts," I told him. He rolled his eyes, I guess he'd heard that before. Next to me, Streak slapped disinfected on the wounds, making me wince. "Ow, you didn't even let me dry off," I informed him as he spread it around.

"You took to long," he said simply. I rolled my eyes, not that that did much. I looked back at Fang who was standing around.

"Are you going to do anything, or are you just standing around?" I asked him. That may have sounded rude, but his standing there was bugging me. He walked over to me and grabbed the bandages. It looked like he'd done this before by the way he wrapped it around my arms, like a professional. "Thank you." I told him as I rolled down my sleeves once more.

"Are you going to tell me what happened now?" Streak asked. I sighed. I knew I was going to have to tell him or I'd have to face Eion. I was going to shrug it off, but when I raised my shoulder, it hurt. I remembered it as the one I'd hit the flyboy with earlier today. I must have shown it one my face, because Streak sighed. "We're not done, are we?" he asked. I shook my head sheepishly.

"So I tired to tackle a flyboy with my shoulder, no big," I said casually. Fang gave me this look that probably questioned my sanity. "Okay, so it wasn't my brightest light bulb moment, but they hadn't been there I would have totally busted us out today."

"Yeah, that may have been true, but instead it looks like you disobedience lead to you current maulment," Streak countered.

"Which side are you on?" I asked him.

"Which ever side doesn't get you killed. You can't do stupid things here Kara, you can't die. Get it? If you die, we lose," Streak emphasized on the lose part. I stayed quiet, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry." Well that was start, so give me some credit. "You're right, Cole. I have to get my head back in the game. Starting now, it's back to the old Kara." I told him, using his real name. He knew I was serious, and I was. I couldn't just winged it anymore, I had to think things through like old times, darker times.

I turned, to Fang, who was standing there. I didn't know what I was going to do with him. Old Kara would have kicked him out, outsiders were dangerous. But New Kara was starting to like Fang, and she thought he could be of some use. "Be ready." I told him. "I'm busting us out of here and if your not ready, I can't guarantee your life. You'll wait for my signal, got it?" I asked him. He nodded.

"The signal?" he asked.

"You'll know what it is when it happens."

* * *

**A/N**: I am sososososososo sorry! School and brain fog couldn't get me to think straight! In compesation I'm posting up three today. MR owns his charries and I mine.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

Kara's POV

"…268…..269…..270….271,"A white coat counted. He was standing over me, a clipboard in his hand. I had been doing pushups for about the last hour and a half, and I finally couldn't do it anymore. After 271 I dropped to my knees, ignoring the sting that was coming.

"We're finished," I told him, my voice dead and cold. Like my eyes, or so I'd been told. We'd been here for a total of two weeks, counting the days I'd been unconscious. I got up, my biceps and triceps aching, but I ignored it. The white coat started to say something, but my glare cut him off. He nodded feverously and left, leaving the door open so I could go.

Smiling to myself I walked out the door. My reputation was back in place. Everyone knew to listen to me, again. The old ones didn't even try to not obey, the news ones learned quickly. I moved my wrist into little circles, getting the blood flow to move again. The bracelet was gone, thanks to Streak and they hadn't bothered placing a new one.

"What's the status?" I asked Eion, when I got to his room. He looked up.

"Still nothing, I managed to get a view of a window. It's not large enough for all of us though," he noted. I nodded and sat on his chair. I moved my sleeves up, revealing the white bandages that were wrapped up to my elbows. These cuts were from a new obstacle, I'd gotten less that time and managed to keep by back safe. Eion sighed, shaking his head lightly when he noticed.

"What?" I asked him innocently. He gave that Do-I-Really-Have-to-Say look. "Hey, I'm not the one who makes up the obstacles, I just race them."

"Without thinking first," he said. I shrugged, so I didn't always think obstacles though, so bite me. "I don't know if what you want is possible," he said after a long silence. I got up, ready to leave his room.

"It is," I said to him, out the door. "You just have to find away."

* * *

Max's Pov

"Gazzy, hurry it up will you?" I asked him, rather annoyed. We were at a small hardware store near L.A. Gazzy was getting last minute supplies for his project, which for once, I had agreed to.

"I'm going, I'm going," he said, grabbing the last bag. Angel stood next to the some what dead looking clerk.

"He's not dead, just sleeping," she said sweetly. "I told him too."

"Uh," I said nervously. She was scary at times like these. Caleb stood next to her, arms crossed; face a mixture of boredom and impatience's. He'd quite trying to run away days ago.

"Okay, let's go," Gazzy said, placing his backpack on.

"Finally," Caleb muttered, making Angel giggle. I smiled and snapped my wings open. Next stop Death Valley.

* * *

Kara's Pov

"Sue," I said, acknowledging her presence. She looked up from her desk and smiled. I didn't smile back.

"Hello, you're a bit early today," she noted, referring to my usual tardiness. I shrugged.

"I had nothing better to do today," I told her. She nodded, as if she understood. "So, what are we doing today?"

"The simple things," she said, knowing I would know. Of course, the simple things, why not? She walked over to a closet and took out a pair of shorts and a short sleeve shirt, my uniform. "Let's see if they fit this time," she suggested, handing them to me. Last time she thought I was still twelve and toothpick skinny. I wasn't. I changed quickly, making sure that my wings were tight against my back. I looked like an Olympic swimmer.

These tests were basic and simple. Run, swim, fight, run. Normal day things. See, Sue was like the fitness instructor here. She gave you work outs, you did them and she'd record progress. This made Sue less bitchy than everyone else. Except when she got creative, then you knew why she worked here. I was done within two hours. By the time I reached the end of the track, I was out of breath, my calves were killing me and I had a massive headache. She shook her head and sighed. "Only five minutes less than last time," she said depressed. I looked at her incredulously. Five minutes was some major step up.

"Whatever give me my clothes back," I ordered. She pointed to a small room in the wall.

"Shower," she ordered. Rolling my eyes I walked over and sprayed myself from head to toe with cold water. I quickly lathered my hair in soap, washed it out and washed my face. That was basically as much shower I would get. Though I don't know why Sue carred so much about my personal hygeine. "Good, here," she handed me my clothes back. Once I was back in my dark long-sleeve and jeans I was comfortable once more.

"Leaving," I announced and walked out the door.

"We're going to have fun tomorrow!" she called after me. I groaned, nobody liked her definition of fun.

I walked down the hall, time to check up on my flock. We all had our basic routines, so we knew where we were at all times of the day. We were only lost when we had "special" testing or we lost track of time. Small, light footsteps approached mine, and I slinked into the shadows. "Kara?" it was only Iggy so I stepped infront of him.

"Here," I said, touching him lightly so he'd know where I was. He smiled and looked at me directly, creepy how he did that. "So, how was testing?" I asked uncomfortable, being with Iggy always made me uneasy. He shrugged.

"Same as always, you?"

"Not much, my legs are killing me though," I said. "Ran with Sue,"

"That must have been fun," I nodded. Then remembered who I was talking too.

"Loads." We stood their close to each other, not saying anything. I could tell Iggy was hearing for something in practicular, he had that concentration face on. He quickly pulled me behind a stiller, as if hiding from someone who was coming.

"What?" I asked him. He put a finger to my lips, hushing me. Footsteps walked past us, loud, thunderous ones. I heard them further and further, each step getting softer and softer till I couldn't hear them anymore.

I turned back and found Iggy centimeters close to my face. His body was pressed against mine so we wouldn't be noticed. "Thanks," I murmured. He nodded. "I…" before I could say anything else his soft lips were on mine again. He pressed his body harder against mine, deepening it. I let him, shocked at first. He always found some way to distract me before he'd kiss me. He wrapped his hands around waist, his feather like touches making me gasp. He smiled against me, and used the opening for his advantage. His cool scent was mixed with mine instantaneously. He tasted like mints today, two days ago it'd been oranges.

He pulled back slowly and reluctantly, the need to breathe getting to us both. "Cheater," I told him, a small smile on my face. He winked and smiled at me.

"What did I do?" he asked innoncently and walked around the poll. It wasn't safe to be in one place for too long. "Catch ya later Storm," he said over his shoulder. I glared at him, knowing it was no use.

"See ya Igs."

* * *

**A/N:** Things are off to a rocky, but stea


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Kara's POV

I was in my room when the door opened. My foot was in the air aiming for their neck in seconds. What can I say? It's a reflex. When I saw who it was, I hooked it so I'd miss. "What's up?" I asked Eion. He was giving that weird look I got from him when I was doing something I wasn't supposed to or did do.

"I think you're little group is near," he said. I looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "And I know that's not what you came to tell me." He sighed, closed the door and sat down on my bed.

"The others, the ones you left with Caleb, we think they're close," he said, looking at me. The bruises had left his face and he was almost back to normal. I looked at him, thinking.

"Are you sure?"

"Jinx thinks she may have recognized Caleb, but she's not sure. She says that others where with him, but she couldn't recognize them."

"She's so stupid!" I said out loud.

"What?"

"Not Jinx, Max. She's the one in 'charge' of the other flock. Ahh. I can't believe she's stupid enough to bring them here." I said, pacing back and forth, my hands gripped into fists at my side.

"So you had this all planned out." He asked me, watching.

"More or less," I said. "Still working on the sketchy parts." There was a silence between us.

"Are you alright?" he asked. I stopped and looked at him.

"What do you mean by alright?"

"Well, you seem…happier I guess. I've been watching you. Every time that blond boy comes near, you get happier-if that's the word for it." He said rather calmly. I hated when he went all Dr. Phil on me, or was beginning to anyway.

"Well….I'm just glad he's still alive," I lied, partially. "He's blind you know. I wasn't sure if he'd live this long." That was an entire lie. I knew Iggy could take care of himself. Eion studied me, he knew I was lying. He always knew. "Come on, we have better thinks to do that study my feelings. If they're on their way we have to make a plan so that they don't get stuck in here too."

"You have a plan?"

"I know that it's going to involve a pretty big explosion," I smirked. Eion grinned. "Well then, let's get started."

* * *

Max Pov

We were close to Death Valley. So close that it was sending shivers up my spine close. We were going to wait a night before the 'rescue' mission began. Caleb looked like he was ready to kill when I told him that. But of course, Angel calmed him down, convinced him that it was for the best. I'm not sure if this is how he acted with Kara, but it was sure freaky to me.

Did I have a plan? Sort of, okay mostly no. I knew Gasman had a few bombs on him, how many was the question as well as how strong. Normally I would be against them, but tonight it was necessary. It was necessary, right?

* * *

Kara's Pov

"So, everyone knows what they have to do?" I asked Eion, once we were back in my room. We'd brained stormed and then we'd split to spread the news. Everyone knew now what was going to happen, except for Fang. He wasn't anywhere reachable at the moment. I was going to look him up later.

"Yep, we're all set to go. Kind of heard to believe the blond one is as useful as Streak."

"His names' Iggy, Eion. How many times do I have to remind you?" Eion shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter. Once we get out of here and get Caleb we'll be off again. And if we're lucky we'll never have anything to do with them again."

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry it's so short. I really am. But I gave you three tonight so I'd say it evens out, don't you? You know you want to review!


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29:

Eion's Pov

I left my sister's room, confused. What did my sister have to do with them? Those _other_ people, who I knew nothing about. I have no idea how they found my sister over two weeks ago, who they are, if they can be trusted. I know nothing and it's been bothering as much as being back does.

I hit the wall of my room with my fist. "She's my sister. I'm some supposed to be taking care of her and I can't do anything!" I said angrily. "Who are they? What if she's wrong? What if they're part of the Emporium? How can she even think of thinking of trusting them?" I asked myself.

This wasn't the Kara I'd known over short time ago. Had she meet them before all this hell happened, she would have kicked their butts at the very sight of them. Old Kara would have taken over in a second, getting anything that would come to her in the air and towards them, giving the rest of the chance to escape. She would have had Streak take Jinx like he had in Huston. She would have had Caleb run like he had in New Orleans and she would have had me led like she had in New York. Old Kara would have put herself in danger if it meant keeping the rest of us from evening being touched.

But now, everything was different. Caleb was in the care of some girl who she knew nothing about besides the basics. She was trusting the dark solemn one, Fang, into paying his part in plan of escape. And there was something she was hiding with the blind one, Iggy. The way her emotions rolled and turned at the mention of him, at his sight, it was all confusing.

The part that was most uncomfortable had just happened mere minutes ago, in her room. When I told her we would never see them again, I got this wave of emotions that almost choked me. The intensity was almost unbearable, coming from her, and I couldn't concentrate hard enough them to see what they were. But now, I was alone, calm and straight-thinking. And thinking back on it, I'd could never recall her feeling all that before, at once. Fear, disappointment, wonder, rebellion (very common in my sister), anger and a bunch of other things I don't feel like mentioning.

I sat on my bed, suddenly exhausted. Placing my head in my hands, I sighed. Since when did everything become so complicated?

* * *

No Pov

Fang leaned against the bedroom wall, arms crossed against his chest, his face unreadable, again. Iggy was hunched over something on his bed, feeling for the tools he needed. "Will you stop staring at me?" he asked. He didn't need to see to feel Fang's gaze on him.

Fang walked over and looked at what he was doing. "What are you doing?" he asked. Iggy didn't look up.

"You'll see." Iggy said fingering the wires. Fang sighed and went back to leaning against the wall in deep thought. "If you're just going to watch, will you leave?" Iggy asked him. "You're distracting me." Fang looked at him, rolled his eyes and left.

* * *

**A/N:** mini post! I know it's short and I'm sorry. These are the horrible little bumps that need to be passed in order to get to the very nice, awesome parts! And unfortunately the end, but don't worry, that won't be for a while.

Review and subscribe if you haven't already. You know you want to. Or else I'd fear going to sleep…I have connections :]


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter: 30

Kara's Pov

The hours seemed to pass endlessly as I waited in my room for the word. Finally when my patience reached its limit did I stand up from my bed and walk over to the door. I reached for the door and with a twist of my wrist I flung it open, having been moved to a room with a handle on both sides a week and a half ago.

I stopped, my instincts starting to go into overdrive. Not a sound was heard within the halls, the usual sounds of footsteps were all gone. Nothing was vibrating off the walls; no one was causing a scene. You would think that I would take this silence as a blessing, but silence was never welcomed. Silence meant that something was wrong, and in a lab, something being wrong could mean death.

I took a step into the hall, my hands starting to ball up at my sides and I turned left and walked down the white halls. I kept looking behind me, the feeling of being watched increasing as I made my way down the hall to the rooms of my family. My steps started to speed up, my brain starting to work faster. Before long, I was running, my mind remembering all the door and halls, the places I could hide in. I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon, but like always, I saw nothing.

I knew I was paranoid, but this had nothing to do with it. I could feel the steps that weren't being heard. I skidded to a stop when I saw the barricade before me. I pivoted back around and saw the obstacle that was in my way. I was surrounded, how I didn't know, by men in lab coats. Normal that wouldn't have been a problem, but when they were being backed up with flyboys, it was a problem. "Some sort of fashion intervention?" I asked cockily, watching both sides for sudden movements.

"Kara, Kara, Kara," one of the white coats taunted, a little machine in his hands. "Always cocky, aren't you?"

"Someone has to have a life, Steve," I told him, watching his face turn red. I grinned.

"We have a new toy for you test out," one of them said. I crossed my arms.

"Well then you're going to need someone else to check it out, I'm busy." I told the.

"We thought you'd say that," Steve said as he along with others, stepped aside. On both sides flyboys started to come at me. I looked around, I'd been cornered, but I wasn't going down without a fight.

I jumped over one of them, my goal was getting to the white coats. Apparently this move I'd done more than once because right before I could land I was snagged out of the air and thrown over a shoulder. "We thought you'd try something similar to that," Steve grinned, standing in front of my face. I looked up and glared at him, before spitting in his face. I grinned, satisfied especially when I saw the look on his face, twisting in disgust. My grin shrunk a little when he slapped me, but Steve had absolutely no strength so I didn't care. "Get her to the lab," he shouted.

"Ow." I said when the flyboy started to move and readjust my body upon his shoulder, lifting me up and throwing me down hard on his other one, hitting my ribs against his metal exterior. I wasn't going to go down without a fight, obviously.

* * *

Eion's Pov

I was in my room, trying to get the latest kinks out of my shoulder when I heard the shouting start. I knew that voice as well as I knew mine, and I heard the struggle in it. I opened the door to see a parade of white coats and flyboys walk past my room, my sister slung over a shoulder in the middle. By the look of it, she was already bound and gagged, but still causing trouble. I stepped out of my room and crossed my arms. "Let my sister go," I said, calling up on my powers. The white coats stopped, mesmerized by the sound of my voice, their will starting to bend towards mine.

I cast a glance at Kara, her left cheek was tinted red, her hair messed up as she tried to get out of the flyboy's grasp. She looked up, catching my eye and for a flicker of a second of fear crossing her eyes. She knew I was the only one watching, and I was the only one she confided her fears to. That single moment made me anger, making me lose my grip on the emotions of the others. Steve bounced back quickly, automatically knowing what was happening. "Take him too; knock him out so he can't do that again." He said. A flyboy turned to me and I moved quickly. But they moved quickly too, blocking my ever moves.

My excuse was that I was tired, I'd just gone through some major strength tests and I wasn't up to my top energy. I know I shouldn't have been glad to see the dark figure spar next to me, but I knew I was going to lose this fight. "Heads up Streak," I told him as I ducked and the flyboy's hand passed by him. We were on a roll, until a sound made us both freeze.

* * *

**A/N:** And it's going to end there. I already have what happens next planned out and started on writing it. So if you want to read it, I've got to get at least some reviews. Any is good, constructive is better.

So review!


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

No Pov

Steve had just about enough of all this fighting. The experiment needed to start, and it needed to start now. He made his way over to subject Two and told the flyboy to stand her straight, to keep a strong hold on her while he did what he need to. He grabbed subject two's gag and pulled it off her. "Tell them to stop, now," he ordered.

Kara glared at him, making him shiver. "Yeah right," she told him. "I might as well still be gagged. Because I'm not going to say a single thing." Steve growled and signaled at the flyboy holding her.

"Get her to talk," he told him and stepped aside. The flyboy grabbed her arm and pulled it back so fast, that it didn't give her a chance to catch her breathe.

* * *

Eion Pov

I stopped the second I heard her. Kara had let out a cry off pain and I turned to her voice. Streak had stopped next to me, and was looking in her direction. I looked at my sister, looking her over to see what was wrong. Her left arm seemed off, not broken, just out of place somehow. I looked at my sister's face, and saw her eyes avoiding us. They were trimmed in red, and I could tell she was trying not to cry by the way she was biting her lower lip. Anger flared through me, how dare they hurt my sister. Heads were going to role.

* * *

No Pov

Steve walked back into the picture. "Right. Now that I have your attention," he told the two other experiments, "You should come with us, now."

As expected, the brown haired one spoke up. "And if we don't?" he asked. A grinned passed onto Steve's face.

"Your sister already has a hurt arm," he smirked as he saw the anger flare in his eyes, "Why do you would you want to push it?" Steve looked down at Kara's face, and his smile grew. Not many got the chance to make her cry, or about to cry, so he was enjoying this. "You know, Cole," he said taking Kara's face in his hand and forcing her to look their way. "She's looking pale, isn't she?"

He watched as the dark boy was unresponsive, his eyes unseeable under his hair, but beside him his fist clenched into fist and he could see Cole's jaw set tight. "So boys, what do you say?"

Eion was the first to make a move. Not moving his eyes off his sister, he stood up straight and let himself get bound. Streak followed him afterwards, a little less tentative. Steve grinned. "Perfect, four subjects is better than two anyway," he said as he motioned for everyone to continue moving. He let go of Kara's face, before gagging her again. He watched as they all went down the hall. "I love this job," he said.

* * *

Eion's Pov

I just wanted it known that I did not surrender. All I did was by us time as they lead the three of us away. Besides, the jerk had threatened Kara, and I could sense the fear and pain that was radiating of her, and I knew I need to help her. And the only thing I could do to help her, was let them take me as well.

I looked over at Streak, and hated Steve for signaling him out. "Hey, you okay?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah. Want to kick some people though," he muttered. I couldn't help but snicker.

"Me too."

* * *

Kara Pov

My arm hurt like hell. My eyes stung and I felt like I was being choked because of the gag. So far, this was not turning into a very good day.

We got taken to a small room, one with two doors. The one we came through and the other one was locked. I got thrown onto the ground, landing on my hurt arm and I cringed. It wasn't long before Eion and Streak were led into the room as well, and the door closed behind them.

They where both next to me in a second; unbinding the rope around my arms and legs, then undoing the gag. I gasped for a clean breath and pushed myself up into a sitting position with my good arm. "Hey," I said meekly.

Eion grinned meekly. "Hey to yourself," he said, touching my cheek, right where Steve had slapped me.

"Steve has absolutely no hand power," I laugh, trying to get him to stop worrying.

"Dislocated shoulder, maybe a broken tendon," Streak said suddenly. I turned around and found him looking at my shoulder, my sleeve rolled up high. I looked back at Eion, gave him a look then turned my attention back to Streak.

"Can you fix it?" I asked, already knowing the answer. He smirked.

"Of course, but knowing you, you're going to need something to bite," he said, and even though I couldn't see it at that moment, I knew he was smiling.

"Uh huh, sure I will Streak, just place it back will you?" I asked, starting to get annoyed. So I yelled once in a similar situation, it doesn't mean I was going to do it again. And yet I couldn't help but close my eyes when he took hold of my arm in one hand and my shoulder in another. I felt his grip tighten for a second, his form of a prior apology, and then he pushed my shoulder forward. I tightened my teeth shut, keeping a yell from escaping. A hiss was the only thing that passed through my teeth, the pain unbearable for a second before it died down to a bearable pain.

"You alright?" Eion asked me, worried. My brother had to learn to stop worrying over me. I am a big girl after all, a big winged girl. I nodded, getting up.

"Fit as a fiddle," I told him, rolling my sleeve down. "Any idea what the little experiment will be?" Both of them shook their heads. "Great. I just hate surprises."

* * *

**A/N: **I know! I know! I deserve your flames of hatred, but I bet you were pretty glad to see this in your inbox today huh? So how about we let go of those forks and torches? At least for now…

I'm going to use my same lame school excuse, though that must be wearing you guys thin by down. Trust me I'm getting pretty tired of it too.

New chapter, so what do you think? I've already got most of the rest planned out. But I'm a little edgy on the ending.

So I'm going to let you guys vote on what kind of ending you want:

Happy, everything works out ending or sad, tragedy ending?

I'll set up a poll soon enough; or just comment your vote!


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32:

Eion's POV

I leaned against the wall, not knowing what we were waiting for. "Wait," I started, looking at them. "Did he say four experiments?" Kara sneered and hit the wall with her fist.

"I swear, if they bring Jinx into this…" she said, her voice cold and murderous. I was partially afraid, not for myself, but for the thoughts that might be going through her mind. For their sake, I hope it wasn't Jinx.

"I don't know what they're expecting us to do. I've got nothing from them, just giddiness, so it's not going to be fun at all." I told her, grimacing. I couldn't think of anything that would make them this excited. Not even Steve would get this excited about some experiment. I tried to keep calm, not wanting to spike any of my powers to agitate them even more. I looked over at Streak. He was quite, as usual. But I could tell that he too was worried and thinking, the way his fingers tapped against his forearm, keeping the momentum in his head to think clearly.

I looked around, trying to find a wall, or something. The door we'd come through was virtually non-existent, blending in precisely with the wall. Suddenly, I felt a movement and a look at the others made me know I hadn't just imagined it. Whether it was the floor or the walls that were moving, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that we had to get ready, for something big was coming our way.

* * *

No POV

The wall panels slid apart and revealed an arena in front of the three. Kara stood in front of them both, almost in a crouch like position. She looked out, trying to get a grip on what was happening. As far as she could tell, they'd remade what she supposed was the inside of the Colosseum, but then again, she'd never been there in her life so how would she know.

Kara placed a side-ways K behind her back, signaling the other to walk slowly and attentively. She took the first step onto the marble floor, and nothing happened.

Eion looked around cautiously, seeing nothing of difference. The panels had gone back together, looking them in the room. "What's going on?" he said in a loud enough voice. He knew they were being watched, observed, he could feel it.

"Second wall opening, four o'clock," Streak whispered, his head bent slightly in that direction. "It's moving."

Kara pivoted into the direction, fist tight and feet ready to fight. She could feel the adrenaline pumping, her mind in a quick race to figure out outcomes and possibilities. She tried to think of everything, all the things that could possibly going through the sick scientist's minds, something that would make them happy to watch.

The three of them stood attentive, ready for flight and fight as the wall panels started to separate and reveal a dark figure before them.

"The time has come to fight," A voice rang through the room. "You children have become a nuisance. It is time to prove yourselves like the warriors back then proved themselves in an arena like this. So then, let the games begin."

* * *

**A/N: **Think of this as a trailer, a glimpse to what is soon to happen. I want to thank everyone whose been reading so far, you guys are great! Don't forget to vote if you want an in put on the out of **Kara Storm met Maximum Ride**. SO COMMENT! And flames are always accepted, so have no fear!


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33:

No POV

"Fang?" Eion said, almost as if to make sure it wasn't really him. Fang had stepped into the arena cautiously. He looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. His eyes rested on the three of them, nodding slightly. He had no idea what was going on, but something told me it wasn't going to be very amusing.

Kara stood slowly, never losing her composure. She smirked, she just couldn't help it. "You want us to fight?" She asked out loud, her voice soft at first. "Your coats must be on too tight, because your brain isn't getting enough oxygen."

There came a sort a laugh through the speakers. "Kara, Kara, Kara," the voice said, almost amused. "You always thought you were funny." Kara narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Well right now you're the funny one. You really think you can set us against each other?" Kara asked, trying to find where the voice was the loudest. "Well guess what? I'm not fighting. Not Eion, or Streak and not even Fang." She started to walk, closer to the walls, heading towards to where she believed the source of the voice was coming from. The laughter came again, this time it was very amused.

"You should have stayed in the center Kara. You know that curiosity killed the cat." As the voice spoke, a panel in the wall moved away, right behind Kara. It revealed a needle, which jetted out quickly and injected Kara before she could move away. Stunned, Kara's hand went to the back of her neck and brought it back to see small smudge of blood on it. Her legs gave out under her and Kara landed on her knees, her eyes closed as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened.

* * *

Eion's POV

This was all happening too fast, and all wrong. I took a second to glance up at Streak, why hadn't he warned Kara about the moving panel? I started to go towards her, when Fang grabbed my arm and held me back. "Hold up," he told me. I glared at him. Hold up? My sister had just been pricked with something and he wanted me to stay back and wait to see what was going to happen. I was about to tell him that he could go to hell, when the voice spoke again.

"I'd listen to him," the voice said. I swear it was almost smiling. "After all, get too close and then fun will be over in a snap."

"What fun?" I asked, glancing over to Kara who was standing up again. I sighed in relief, but it may have come too soon. Something was odd, about her movements, her aura.

"You see Eion, we've known about your ability for a while now," the voice said. I froze, how could they know? Had I used it too much this time? Too detectable? "With the blood we've taken from you, we've managed to extract the power and convert it into something we can manage, something we can control. Now, we introduce you to test subject one," the voice said. I was getting irrated by the voice.

"I don't see anyone besides us," Fang said in a soft whisper. Then it hit me, and how I wish I were wrong.

"Exactly."


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34:

No POV

Realization of what was happening seemed to dawn on the other guys. Eion could feel their horror, which like his own, was quickly changed to anger. How dare those whitecoats pit them against each other in this holographic gladiator arena? Eion felt a stab of guilt, since it had been his blood they had used to make this experiment. He didn't linger on it long, mostly because there was nothing he could do about it now. Secondly because standing there, doing nothing, would have gained him a hit to the head.

"You know boys," the voice said again through the speakers. "Standing still makes you an easier target. Unless you want test subject one to get you that is." You could hear the amusement in his voice. Finally, after weeks and for other years, of being afraid of this girl and bending to her cold stare, they were having their revenge.

Eion just glared in the voices general direction, a bad move on his part. He was knocked to the ground, a pain in his side as he looked up. There his sister stood; bringing back her leg from the kick she'd just given him. Except it wasn't Kara. The hard demeanor and cold eyes belonged to her, but Kara would have never hit a member of her own family. Let alone her twin brother.

"You were warned," the voice said again, then silence. They had turned the speaker off, the time for talk obviously over.

Fang POV

I really didn't know what was happening. I just knew that we had one angered, out of control (or in control of someone else) bird girl. I also didn't know what to do. In a way, this wasn't my fight. I had to find out how to get out of this arena, find Iggy and Nudge and get us out of here. Of course, neither was going to be leaving without their new found friend from the Storm group. Iggy, to my dislike and like, had gotten a thing for Kara, and Nudge had gotten attached to her new roommate Jinx. And of course, taking one meant taking the others.

"If you're just going to sand there like an idiot, get out and stay out of the way," I hear Streak say behind me, pushing me to the side as he ran towards Kara and Eion. Then he did something I'm not sure I would have done if the two of us had switched roles.

Streak placed a well aimed kick to her back, knocking Kara forward and giving Eion time to move out of her way. I was sure Kara had just been about to do some major damage to her twin. Instead, she sprung quickly to her feet, the same way I do when I have the adrenaline flowing and the anger pumping in the middle of a fight, meaning I could safely assume she was pretty much the same and insane. She turned on to Streak, who was ready for her. Hit block, hit block, they went at a rhythm that could only be kept by knowing your opponents next move before they even moved. "He won't last long," I heard a horse voice say next to me. I turned, seeing Eion standing there, holding his side. I guess his sister got him good with the first hit.

"He looks like he's holding his own," I told him, looking around and trying to figure out an escape.

"He should. They spar enough together," Eion told me "But with this light, he won't be able to concentrate. He's already becoming a half second late," Eion observed. I looked up at the lights, they didn't seem much brighter than the average room and I told him so. Eion got an amused look on his face. "Glad she didn't tell you everything."

"Look," I started, annoyed now by his ongoing attitude. "I get it. You don't trust me and I could honestly care less. So either get passed it and help me find a freaking way out of this hell hole or stay there and watch your sister fight it out with your flock member." I could see I'd hit a nerve, but what the hell. Instead of finding a way to bust out, beat the crap out of some whitecoats and figure out a way to get Kara back to some normality. That's what a real flock member would do, not continue to fight this out.

I hated this place, being trapped against my will in this cage. Suddenly, I knew what those birds in pet shops felt like every day. "Easy for you to say," Eion growled softly. I turned towards him, not expecting him to say that.

"What in the hell do you mean by that?" I asked, trying to see how this was turning to be my fault.

"Kara isn't supposed to be fighting me, or Streak. She's supposed to be fighting you. We weren't supposed to be here, we got dragged into it trying to get her back. You know how gladiators used to fight? Till the death, meaning was supposed to be a test, see which flock was best. So why don't you stop assuming things, get a back bone and take your place fighting her instead of looking around for a door that isn't there." I glared slightly, but I didn't mean it. Part me knew that he was right, Kara's angry words from weeks ago vibrating in my head. "But you can't. Because despite how much I hate you, I love my sister more and it would kill her to know she could have killed you. You know she would win, you don't need to have my power to see the hatred vibrating off her." His voice was silent near the end, looking at the wall opposite us, studying it.

"What?" I asked, knowing he'd figured something out. He put his hand out, hushing me as he focused on the wall. I waited patiently, seeing it was the least I could do even though every fiber was on the edge, needing to know if that would be the way.

"They're over there," Eion said, his mouth hardly moving. "I can feel them. They're too many in one room sharing the same giddiness. They're watching." I stopped myself from smiling ever so slightly. If they were watching, there was a window, or a camera. Whatever it was, it meant there was weak spot in this wall.

"So what's the plan?"

Streak's POV

I'd barely missed her last punch, feeling it pass my right ear as I dodged at the last moment. I had to shake out of it, focus. Her patterns should have been predictable by now, we'd spared together every night for years. But it was just so damn bright in here, and I couldn't keep my eyes covered by my hair like I did in the daylight to block out most of the sun.

"Ooof," I gasped, the air getting knocked out of me as Kara roundhoused me in the chest. I fell backwards onto the floor, trying to fill my lungs up with air. This sucked. It beyond sucked. We wouldn't be in this position if the whitecoats didn't have such twisted minds. I knew what it was, the liquid they'd injected her with. Basically, without all the fancy talk as Jinx called it, the liquid had been filled with a complex, man-manipulative anger hormone and huge amounts Epinephrine which lead to the flight-or-fight scenario. When combined, flight canceled out, leaving fight as the only option.

I rolled away quickly, escaping the punch she'd thrown at me. "How you holding up?" Eion asked, suddenly appearing next to me. I looked up at him, confused. "Don't worry. We've got a plan," he said, looking at Kara. I looked too, and was surprised to see Fang fighting Kara. Or more like just dodging her hits. "How much more do you have in you?" I knew what he really wanted to hear. Eion wanted to know that I still had enough left to keep the fight up with Kara, since there was no way he was going to be able to do it, and we both knew Fang would only last so long. Sure, Kara and Eion sparred against each other, but I could only guess it had to do with them being twins that left him not wanting to do it then, when it wasn't really his twin.

I stood up, dusting myself off for dramatic effect. The air had finally returned to my lungs, so I had no excuse not to keep me going. "I'm ready. What's the plan?" Eion gave me a thankful look that I pretended I hadn't seen. I didn't really need the extra baggage right now. He asked me if I knew what was up with Kara, which of course I did and told him.

"Do I mellow it out of her?" Eion asked me, and I shook my head.

"Probably not a good thing," I said, not really knowing the answer. "Best we can do is to probably have it run itself out. It was a small dose, so it shouldn't last too long," I hoped I was right because I didn't have a backup plan to that one. Eion nodded, like if he knew that was the right option but I knew he was winging it like I was.

"Alright. It's a bit risky," Eion started filling me in on the plan. It sounded risky, like I had to be quick or I could die risky, but it was the only choice we had right now. I knew Kara and Eion had been planning our escape to be soon, and with every second we spent in this hologram was a second more added to the already impossible mission. But if this worked right, we'd be busting out tonight.

Hopefully, luck would be on our side. We had a lot of rain checks to cash in with that guy and it was time he paid up.

**A/N:**

I know! It's been almost a year since the last update to this story! I can't believe it either! I thought it was much sooner than that. Well, as many of you may know, I'm going to get this finished this summer. It's taken too long for me to finish this. With school out and summer looking dull, I WILL be finishing this.

I've also gone back and fixed every single chapter before this one. They are now (hopefully) spell-checked, grammatically correct and full of sense and no contradictions.

Reviews/Flames/Questions/Suggestions welcomed and encouraged!

James Patterson owns his characters.

I own mine.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35:

Eion's POV

By now, I was honestly just winging it. Sure, there was the basic outline of the plan. It just consisted of getting Kara to either stay out of our way, or assisting in the destruction of the wall. That was basically the only plan we had for the day.

On the downside, we'd knocked out half of the lights so that Streak could get a slight advantage. Sure, it would let him see better and last longer in a fight against my emotionally unstable and controlled (and possibly younger) twin sister. But it also gave Fang and me a slight disadvantage. Mostly Fang, who seemed to be able to see even less than I could in the dark, which was where the wall that we had to destroy was. We didn't think through it first.

"How are we going to get this wall down?" Fang asked me, after a couple minutes of hitting and kicking it without success. I'd been hoping he had some power that would help, but apparently this kid couldn't do anything and once more I wondered how they had survived alone for this long.

"I'm still working on that," I told him. Time suddenly seemed to slowly as I heard the wooshing of a large object heading our direction. I turned to Fang, who hadn't seemed to register it and grabbed his arm, pulling him down as I dove to the ground. A loud crack and thud brought everything back to real time and the two of us looked up at the wall. Or what was left of it. Something had made a large whole it and I turned in the direction it came.

"Thought you could use some help," I heard Streak say from somewhere in the dark. "Just keep your heads down."

"What was that?" Fang asked, a slightly bewildered look on his face.

"That was my sister," I said, standing up to see the remnants of rock. "She tends to throw things when she's upset. Which is oddly working in our favor today."

"And I thought Max was hard to deal with when she got mad."

I could only chuckle.

NO POV

Iggy climbed out of the shaft, turning in the direction of the two girls. "They're all up and ready. Just need to wait on that signal," he told them.

_Good. Are you sure they'll work?_ Iggy heard Jinx ask in his head, something that still freaked him out.

"Of course they'll work. They won't blow the whole roof of, but just enough for us to make our getaway." He hoped anyway.

Eion's Pov

"Come on," I told Fang, moving quickly. "Let's get in there." I didn't wait for him to respond, mostly because I really didn't need him. He'd gotten stuck in there with us, we hadn't chosen him. I'd done him a favor, mostly out of instinct, to pull him down from whatever it was that made the hole, but now he was on his own. I was on a mission: save my sister and get the flock out of here.

NO POV

Max looked over at Gasman. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

Gasman nodded for what seemed to him the hundredth time. "Yes Max! It's simple, really. All the bombs are set up wirelessly so when I detonate, they'll all go off at once. It should bring the roof down!"

"I've seen Streak do it more than once," Caleb supplied, annoyed now by Max's constant worry. "He's got it right. So can we just get to it?"

Max looked at the six year old in surprise. He'd changed so much in such little time. _Or maybe he's just shown you who he really is, _Angel said in her mind. _Remember what Jeff said._

Eion's POV

It was easier than it should have been. The object had already taken out a lot of people and equipment by the time I'd crossed over the wall. All the Whitecoats had been sitting around a monitor, watching the fight. "Sick bastards," I spat at the ones on the ground, heading towards the few that still stood. My fists were bawled at my side as I tried to keep myself in check. But it was a hard task to do when the people who'd made you and your family suffer through mercilous tests stood before you. It was hard to do when all it took was two hands to keep them from breathing ever again.

"Turn it off," I told one of them, seeing the fear in his eyes. "Turn off the expirement. Give me the antidote, whatever. Just return my sister to normal."

One of the Whitecoats laughed in my face and I punched him, knocking the guy out. "Anyone else?" A small scrawny one leapt up and went to the remaining dials, turning the frantically.

"I-I-It's do-done," he stuttered, his face pale. I glared at him, my hand wrapping around his throat.

"Are you sure?" I asked, tightening my grip slightly. The guy nodded rapidly.

"Eion. Eion let go," I heard Fang say behind me. For some reason, I listened and let the creep fall to the ground.

"You got luck," I snarled down at the Whitecoat, before grabbing a metal pole (the remains of a desk leg) and smashing it against any machine that stayed in tact. It wasn't long before everything was broken.

"And I thought your sister was the one with the anger issue."

I guess it ran in the family.

Kara's POV

I'm not sure what had happened. One moment I remember being near a wall, trapped with my brother, Fang and Streak and the next I was on the ground, in the dark with someone breathing heavily close to me. Instinctly, I moved my arm up to attack, only to have it grabbed.

"I see your still paranoid," I heard Streak say softly.

"Cole? What happened?" I asked, moving to sit up then stopped. My head was pounding and I had vertigo strong enough to make me puke.

"Take it easy," He told him, his hand lightly going over where my head hurt. "You hit your head hard on that fall. I guess the off switch turned everything off."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, hearing approaching footsteps to my right. One pair was familiar to me, the other not so much.

"She's fine," I heard Streak say. I guess we knew them both, not that I could see much in the darkness.

"How you feeling?" I heard Eion ask, and by the sound of its proximate, I guessed he was right in front of me.

"I've been better. Eion, what happened?" I asked, determined to know.

"No time for that," Eion responded, though he knew how I hated it when I was in the dark. "Let's get her up. I'm sure they've called for their forces by now." That feeling of agreement, in which I didn't agree to anything, seemed to pass around and suddenly hands were grabbing my arms and pulling me up. It took all my will power from throwing up right then.

"I've got the door," I heard Fang yell, sounding far. I wondered when he disappeared to find it. There was a crack of light in the darkness, making me turn away from it. I heard Fang jog back towards us, "Come on the hall's clear, for now."

Eion kept an arm around me as we hurried out of the place and my eyes adjusted to the light faster now that I was regaining my strength. The red emergency light started flaring, alerting that we were on the escape. Then a horrific thought hit me.

"What did you tell Iggy the sign would be?" I asked them quickly. Fang's face blanched.

"The lights," Streak supplied. We all turned to the sound of running footsteps coming our way, everyone tensing for the fight.

"Oh good we found you!" Nudge said rather loudly as they came into our view. "Good thing we'd finished getting them all in just in time for you to give the signal."

"You did start the signal, didn't you?" Iggy asked, probably sensing that something was wrong.

"Not much we can do now."

"Um guys…you might want to hit the floor…"

As the words came out of Iggy's mouth, Eion was pushing me and Streak down to the ground and covering our heads. I didn't have the time to remind him that I could take care of myself as the explosives started going off. And the roof started to fall.

Hopefully getting out of here wouldn't mean dying.

**A/N:** hey guys! I know I said weekly updates, but that was before I forgot I was going to camp. And then I had a concussion and wasn't allowed on the computer. On the bright side, it's my first day back and I'm uploading immediately! Thanks to everyone whose reviewed and waited patiently.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter: 36

**Kara's POV**

The explosions that should have lasted a couple seconds, a minute at the most, were now taking much more time than I would have planned. Though it couldn't have been more than a minute more, it seemed to have been taking an eternity.

Something hit my side with, most likely falling debris, and it made me just close my eyes even tighter. By then I was covering my head with my own arms, an impact that had been close to us having knocked my brother away. Or was I the one who'd been moved? At that moment I couldn't tell and neither did I really care. Finally, the world stopped shaking and I took it as a sign to look up.

"Heads," I called out, coughing from all the small debris in the air and smoke. I was complete, nothing was bleeding and besides my head and side hurting, I was fine. Even the vertigo had disappeared. "Heads," I called again, panic rising when I hadn't heard my flock members report in. Then I heard a moan and groan and I turned my head.

"Up," Eion said, struggling up from a pile of wall. He turned and helped up Streak, whose hair had turned slightly gray from everything. "Times two," he says the need to add. Nodding, I turned around, looking to see where Jinx was.

_Up!_ She squealed in my head and I couldn't help but smile as she popped out from under a desk. Who knows why that was there, but thank god, because it had saved her from being squished by a large concrete object.

"Up?" Fang asked, coughing as he appeared. "What's with that?" I just shook my head and waved the comment away. It wasn't the time to explain the story to heads up. Nudge appeared next and for a moment I thought how it had been a miracle we'd all gotten through that with hardly any injury. Then my insides turned when I noticed not everyone had appeared.

"Where's Iggy?" I asked trying not to sound panicked as I turned to Fang and Nudge. Nudge's eyes went wide as she turned her head in every possible direction trying to see if Iggy was hiding somewhere. Fang just started moving things away, looking. I did the same thing, the panic slowly rising as I started moving ceiling and wall parts faster. "Iggy! Iggy where are you!" I called out, noticing the hint of franticness in my voice.

Rubble started to move to my left and I turned to see that strawberry blond head rise up from everything. "Wasn't that awesome or wh-"Iggy started to say but I didn't let him finish. I'd been so relieved to see him alright that I had pulled him closer by his shirt and kissed him. Right then and there, in the middle of rubble and surrounded by everyone we knew (well mostly everyone), I kissed Iggy.

Then of course, hell broke loose.

**NO POV**

"So this is what you've been doing for who the hell knows how long?" Eion yelled, unable to keep the anger and accusation out of his voice. For some reason, something in him just snapped when his sister kissed that blond guy. "Snogging that guy?"

There was a long, heavy silence as the anger in her brother's voice brought Kara back from her thoughts and relief of finding Iggy. There was a flash of guilt that passed through her face, before she settled on slight anger. "First of all," she started her voice clear and controlled. "I have not been _kissing Iggy_ the entire time. Secondly, do you really think that Eion? Do you really think that not only would I place my flock second, but that I spend days not trying to figure out what happened to you guys, where you were and scared of what was happening to you guys. Do you really think that Eion?" She'd been walking towards him slowly and now stood in front of him, looking up with a small glare in her eyes.

Eion felt guilty for a second, but like his sister he was too angered to stay guilty for long. He was about to yell something when he felt a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. He turned around to see Streak looking at him intently, then a slight shake of his head. Whether the shake was to not say anything, or not to say anything here was the question. But it was going to be one answered later, because a single voice made them all forget what was happening for a moment.

"I blow off the roof and all you guys do is sit around and argue?"

**Kara's POV**

That single question may have just saved me from beating up Eion. Or vice versa, since I still wasn't feeling that great after this last experiment. The sensation of having to throw up had gone away, but the world was still tilting oddly if I moved too quickly.

"Kara! Eion!" Instantly, I was almost knocked back by person who'd hit me full on. Well hit isn't the right word, more like hugged tightly. Some placed their hand on my back, to keep me from falling over as I looked down at Caleb. After a quick look down and determining there was nothing wrong with him, I hugged him back. "I knew I'd find you."

"Never doubted it," I told him. "But we better start moving if we want to stick together," I said, get back in control of the situation, issues could wait until we were out of this joint. "Jinx, what we got?"

I looked over at our resident mind-reader as she searched to see who was where and what they were doing. She held up five fingers. Five minutes, that's all we had before they fell upon us. It would seem like enough time, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we might just be cutting it close. "Let's role then guys."

**Max's POV**

I didn't know what was happening before we got there, but I didn't need to be able to read minds to know that there was a fight. Between the others too. I swear if they were keeping my flock from getting out, I don't care how much they may be like us, I was going to hit someone.

Caleb was gone from my side in an instant, probably relieved to be rid of us and back with his flock. No, that's not fair. He was relieved to be back with them, but possible not relieved to be rid of us. Or who knew, maybe all this time he really didn't think much about us but as something temporary till he got back to the real thing. If Jeb was right, and they acted more on their animalistic side then Caleb had been on survival mode since the separation.

It took me a moment to notice that Angel and Gazzy weren't at my side anymore. I looked around to see them both by Fang, Iggy and Nudge. Smiling, I headed over to them. "Took you long enough," was Fang's comment and I rolled my eyes at him, but with a smile. I'd looked at them over and they all seemed in one piece. No extra hands or eyes or scale colored skin. Of course, they weren't unscratched, each caring their respective bruises and scratches.

"We hit some turbulence along the way," Gazzy laughed then launched into a discussion with Iggy about explosives and other things I didn't understand.

"Can we get out the way you came in?" I heard Kara ask behind me. I turned around to face her, looking her over closely. She looked tired, aged slightly and perhaps a little pale, but besides that she looked fine. A part of me became resentful, thinking how they probably were all cozy with the labcoats so my flock got the worst of it, but the other more rational part didn't really think that. It could just be that the experiments were more internal than external. Or they were battle wounds, my guys were fighters after all.

"Oh never mind we'll figure it out ourselves," Kara huffed after my lack of response. "Streak, check it out? Take Caleb with you." The two nodded and were off in a run immediately.

"You're splitting up?" I asked, confused for a moment. "Isn't that a bad idea? You could get separated again."

"Send two for stakeout, keep a look ahead," Kara said simply.

"But Caleb?" I felt Fang grab my wrist and try to pull me back, obviously knowing something I didn't.

"Look, Max. You don't know how we work; you don't know our strengths or our weakness. You don't know just how much more we can do. So stop trying to tell me how to run my flock," she turned her back to me. I was going to take a step forward and just go at it with her when Fang pulled me back.

"What?" I asked.

"Max, don't."

"But it's wrong! She's wrong."

"She's not wrong Max, at least not logically. Sure, it's not how we would do it but that doesn't mean she's wrong. They're different than us Max, I've seen it." I got the feeling that Fang knew something he wasn't telling me, but this wasn't the place or the time to figure out what it was.

"Well I'm not waiting around to see what they try to figure out," I told Fang and looked around to see how to get out. "Fastest thing would be up and out, just the way we came," I figured and gathered up my flock to fill them in on which way we'd come.

"You've got to be kidding me! There's no way they got that shield up so fast," I heard Kara say behind me. I'd made up my mind to leave them behind, but of course, I don't think the rest of my thoughts were on the same page. They still kept creeping up with having to help those other people and Jeb's message kept replaying in my head.

"What's wrong?" I asked turning around to face them.

"They got their electric shield up," Caleb stated as if it were obvious. I hadn't heard him come back from his stakeout. "We can't fly out." Damn. Well that definitely put a wrench in my plans. Not to mention that I was totally not okay with that tone. The kid was like a third my age, he had no reason to be talking down to me like that.

"Three minutes," Eion spoke up, as he looked up and down the hall. I could see certain muscles tense up and how he shifted his center of gravity. That kid was getting ready for a fight, and if I didn't hurry up and find a way out, who knew if we'd all make it out.

"Well we have less than that before the roof falls in," Streak spoke up from along the wall. He was passing his hand over the wall the way Iggy did when he was feeling something for recognition. "The double blast was too powerful. It took out most of the ceiling reinforcements, not to mention parts of the ceiling."

Shit. Now this really wasn't going great. Why was it so hard to get out of this freaking place? _Come on Jeb, give me a hint_, I said inside my head, which kind of sucked since I absolutely hated asking for help. But the situation seemed ever more and more hopeless by the second and no one else was coming up with any idea.

"Eion, go find the power supply and cut it," Kara started giving instructions before I was even finished with my thoughts. A part of me hated how she was on her toes like that, and keeping her cool. I wish she was panicking like I was. "Take Streak with you. Watch your backs and make the run if you can. Let Jinx know anything. Got it?" Both boys nodded, and I noticed that her twin did so somewhat reluctant.

"Run if you can?" I whispered to Fang. "So basically get out of here but forget about the rest of us. What kind of a guideline is that? Isn't it all for one and one for all not everyone for themselves?"

"You have a problem with the way I lead?" I heard Kara ask and knew immediately the question was directed at me. "Because I definitely don't see you doing any better. At least I'm doing something Max. At least there's a chance two of us will make it out of here. What are you doing? Standing around and trying to think of a plan for six no doubt."

"At least I'm not condemning anyone to die," I shot back. "Those two won't be able to fight off a pack of Flyboys on their own."

"They can handle themselves," Kara told me, turning her back towards me. "A load better than Fang can if I remember correctly." That got my attention and I turned it towards Fang.

"What does she mean by that?" I asked and by the look on his face I guessed most of it. And got mad. "Did she fight you? Oh that's it. No one messes with my flock except me." I took a step forward, fist clenched at my sides. But a quick hand grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I'd expected it to be Fang, but I was surprised to see Iggy.

"Max stop it. You can't go accusing people when you don't know the whole story," he said, coming to Kara's defense. "There's no time for that," he added quickly "We have to move and so far Kara's the only one with a plan. I know you hate following other people, but unless you come up with something in like a minute and half, you're going to have a long time to think of another plan while we're stuck back in dog crates."

"They're coming!" Angel said behind me and I looked down at her to see that she was facing the other direction.

"Fine! Fine, I'll be nice," I said hurriedly and looked over at Kara. Jinx was the only one left at her side; Caleb was nowhere to be seen. "Tell us what to do," I said through gritted teeth at Kara. She glanced in my direction once before turning her eyes back. She was pulling Jinx behind her and nodded.

"Stay right there, close to each other," she said and looked up. "When I say, the other way down the halls. Caleb will meet up with you there and follow him. Don't stop, don't try to come, just keep going, understand?" she asked and I nodded. "I mean it, don't come back," she said again but it wasn't at me. I could tell by the tone of her voice that she had meant it for someone else, but I didn't have time to figure out who she was talking to.

Because we were enveloped by darkness.

**A/N:** No excuses. Not really. I mean, I could give you a lot, like school, lack of imagination, laziness, but you guys are better than that. So much better than that. You're all amazing readers and every time I get a comment on the story I feel so bad for not posting. But here it is the next chapter.

No promises on when the next one will be out, but I hope it's soon.

To the anonymous commenter and anyone else who's interested: sure. You can write a story with my characters. Just credit them to me! And send me a link so I can read it too.

Reviews are adored and cherished.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter: 37

**Kara's POV**

So far everything was going to plan, meaning everything soon wouldn't be. We'd never have this much luck, and we sure weren't going to get it in this devil's place.

"Go," I said, hoping it sounded as calm as I wanted to. I felt a tiny squeeze on my hand before it was gone, and so was Jinx. I could hear the confusion and the scrambling, and then the cohesion and moving of the others as they no doubt followed Jinx down the hall.

They'd make it. They would be safe.

I don't think I could say the same for myself though. Call me crazy, call me suicidal, but this is the best I could come up with in only a matter of seconds. The ache on my side was expanding in all directions. Not to mention that the vertigo had come back and I felt like I was going to up chuck a woodchuck.

"Calm down Kara, calm down," I said to myself as I gathered my strength and closed my eyes to listen. Behind me, the sound was getting softer. In front of me, the sound was getting louder. And above me, I could hear the creaking of the ceiling as slowly started to crumble upon itself and then on everyone else.

I knew what I had to do, and I was so scared at that moment I was afraid I would chicken out. But I couldn't, not when too many lives depended on me. Eion would be crushed, I knew that, but he would take care of the rest first. He wasn't my beta for nothing. He'd be a good alpha, especially if Streak stepped up and had his back like Eion had mine. The other flock, well I didn't really know nor care how they would react. I'm sure they'd be devastated. Max would question my motives and then hate me for leaving my flock alone. Fang wouldn't show anything until he thought you weren't looking, but I think he would understand a little better. Iggy would be crushed though.

Iggy. I didn't know if I should be regretting my actions. I had never put myself ahead of the flock, or anything else for that matter. I didn't know what I was thinking that night in the woods. Even though he had kissed me first, I had kissed him right back. More than once. What had been great about it was that for once, it was my choice. It had nothing to do with flock, it was all for me, myself and I. I never saw Iggy as a mate. I always saw him as a boy, a guy outside my realm who might just understand and cared. I'd miss him. I just hope he didn't do anything stupid.

_Ten, _a voice said in my head and I knew that there were only ten seconds left. I could hear the sound a gun makes when it's being ready to fire. I could hear my own breathing and heart slow down. Everything was slowing down, almost in slow motion, as I shook my hands out. I placed one above me, the other in front and waited until the last possible moment, because I wouldn't be able to hold it for long once I started. Not with the injuries and the fatigue.

_Five._

_Four._

_Three. _

_Two._

_One._

**A/N: **I know! I know! How rude of me to leave it off at such a cliffy.

But here's the deal, about some months ago, I put up a poll on my profile (click my name to see it). I wanted to see what kind of ending my faithful readers wanted. And guess what, no one has voted! I know, scandalous!

So here's the deal. You want to voice an opinion, then you have until the 9th of March 11pm CST (-6:00 GMT) to vote. After that, I will write up the next couple of chapters, which unfortunately my friends, will be then.

Reviews are adored and cherished.

Vote!


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N:** I'm not sure how you guys don't hate me! I'm not sure how you even remember what's been happening in the last chapters. I know, know, you don't need to tell me.

Thanks to everyone whose kept going with this story, anyone whose jumped in along the way, and to anyone whose started and made it this far.

As said in the first chapter, for the purpose of this fanfiction, books 4-6 are nonexistent.

James Patterson owns his characters, because if I owned them, the whole MR series would have ended differently (yeah I finished the last book…).

I own my characters, but willing to lend them out to people IF THEY ASK FIRST AND CREDIT THEM AS MINE.

And now, for the long awaited chapter.

* * *

Chapter: 38

**No POV**

To say that hell was breaking loose was true, if only a little exaggerated. Fires were beginning to start and spread through different parts of the building, the ceiling was collapsing upon itself and in one section, there was a battle going on.

Or an attempt at one anyway.

Bullets were without a doubt being fired, their loud noise covering the alarms that were going off. They were all aimed for the same person, but none were hitting the target.

Instead they were bouncing back and hitting the walls, or in most cases, themselves. As flyboys fell to their own weapons, the ceiling started to crumple and land on those still standing. But even through all that, the girl stayed standing, her arms out stretched. One above her head, the other towards the guns.

Kara's plan had really just been made with one goal in mind: make sure the others made it out. It was simple really, if only slightly suicidal, but she didn't care. She held up the ceiling so they could get out without being hurt, the other kept away the guns so that they wouldn't hit her for their sake, not hers. Because her flock was everything to her, and if they got out safe, then that was all that mattered. It didn't matter that once she ran out of energy, the shields would disappear. Any bullets still being fired at her would most likely meet their target, and if not, she wouldn't have any strength left to escape the falling ceiling.

There really wasn't much of a time frame for all of this either. It had to be quick, really quick. The others had already gotten a head start to freedom, and with Eion and Streak cutting the power, the shield had been dropped. They just had to fly out before any backup generators kicked in and put it back up, trapping everyone in. And through all of this, Kara was supposed to hold up.

Under any normal circumstances, this wouldn't be much of an issue. But normal circumstances went out the window a long time ago. Without mentioning the experiments she had been forced to undergo, more recently she had her shoulder dislocated, a possible torn tendon; she had been injected with something that now made her nauseous enough that the room kept spinning, and ceiling had fallen on her and that pain was still spreading through the side of her body. Kara couldn't wait to see the bruise that would leave.

So it didn't surprise her when her legs gave out and she fell on her knees, dropping the shields if only for a second before putting them back up. It didn't surprise her when she tasted the blood –her blood- on her lips and feel it run down from her nose. And as her vision started to become spotted and hazy, she couldn't help but think of her flock and recall memories of the good times they had had together.

_Maybe that's what they mean about your life passing before your eyes just before you're about to die_, she thought to herself. And for that moment, even though hell was breaking loose around her, Kara found herself oddly at peace. If she died today, it would be okay. Her flock would be okay, because Eion was going to be there for them. Eion, her brother, who she trusted more than anyone in the world, would take care of the people she loved most in the world.

And that's how she felt when she closed her eyes, for probably the last time, and let herself be taken by the darkness.


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N:** For a while I contemplated chapter 38 to be the last chapter, which is why I hadn't posted it until now. I thought it would have been a good place to end, leave it slightly ambiguous.

But then I thought, after a little over four years of having started this story, I was going to finish it off correctly. No ambiguity. I had to finish it not only for you, but for me as well. To officially close my Maximum Ride fanfiction. It doesn't mean I won't write more in the future, but that this one, this world, needed to come to an end.

But for now, here's one new chapter.

And remember, reviews are loved and cherished.

* * *

Chapter: 39

**Eion POV:**

"Tell me that's the one," I said to Streak. I hoped it didn't sound like I was pleading, but I kind of was. We'd already found three voltage boxes, and all three had gone to irrelevant parts of the building. The one we were looking for shut down the shield. It hadn't been hard to find this place, since it had been labeled.

"Yeah, this is it," Streak said after a moment. He put his hand in the box, grabbed all the wires, and just pulled them all out. The lights went out automatically.

"Good, let's go." I said, pivoting around and heading back the way we'd come. I was getting anxious now, listening to Jinx explain what Kara was doing. We were running through the hall, the lights starting to shut down up here as well.

"We have a minute," I heard Streak tell me and I nodded. I knew what where we had to go; I told Jinx the perfect place to take off from.

_Kara says not to come back for her_, I heard Jinx tell me. I stopped immediately in my tracks. _She says that she means it._

"To hell with what Kara says," I said angrily. Beside me, I could tell Streak had heard the same thing; by the way his fists were bunched at his side. We were already at the meeting place, waiting for Caleb to appear with the others. I took a step in the direction I knew she was but stopped. My instincts were telling me to stop and turn around, to obey the alpha. But I couldn't just leave Kara there. She was my sister, I had to protect her. It didn't matter if I was older or younger, Kara was my sister not just my flock leader.

If I was going to do something, I was going to have to do it soon. I could already hear the urgent steps of the others coming closer and closer and I knew what had to happen. _Five _I heard Jinx say, and knew that there were five seconds before everything started falling on top of us. Five seconds before Kara put up the shields that were going to hold the ceiling up for us to escape, five seconds before they reached her and started shooting.

"One," I barely managed to hear Streak say and just as the ceiling began to break away and fall, it stopped. At the same time, I saw Caleb appear, followed behind Jinx and then everyone else. Everyone besides Kara that was.

"Fly," I said, surprised how calm and commanding my voice sounded as I pointed to the wide enough hole in the ceiling. It had been one of the first to fall, and with nothing to hold up; it wasn't going to be barred by Kara's ability.

Jinx was the first to go out, unfurling her wings as she jumped up. With a stroke she gained altitude and went out the hole. The others followed quickly behind her, until only four of us where left: Iggy, Caleb, Streak and myself.

"Go," I told Iggy and Caleb. They both shook their in an uncharacteristically similar way. "The roof isn't going to hold much longer, go."

"No, not without Kara," Caleb said and I glared at him to get him to move. The kid fidgeted but stood his ground. I would have been proud, if it wasn't delaying my plan. I had to get everyone out first before I headed back in myself.

"Would I ever leave her?" I asked, kneeling to his level. Caleb reluctantly shook his head. "So?"

Before he could react, I picked him up and handed him over to Streak. "Get yourself out," I told him. "If things don't go as planned…" I didn't need to finish the sentence because he knew the rest. If things didn't go as I planned, he would be in charge.

"I'll be close by," He told me as he took a running start, with Caleb attempting to escape his grasp. I turned around before he took off, seeing Iggy still standing there. My anger flared as I looked at this guy.

"Look, I going to tell it to you straight." I told him, seeing no point in beating around the bush. "I don't like you. At all. And it's not that you're kissing my sister, though that's a big part of the issue. I don't like or your flock in general. You're in the way, you're a nuisance, you try to act as if you're human all the time when you aren't. And right now you're in the way. So you either get your ass away from here and live or die here. Your call, not mine. But either way you're going to hurt Kara and that's not what she needs. She doesn't need you or your flock."

With that I took off running down the hall, passing him without another look or word. What I said was true, she didn't need him. I don't know what he thought was going to happen once we all got out of here, but Kara and I had talked it over a couple days ago. We would split; because that was the way it was supposed to be. She had made the final choice, not me, meaning that this Iggy fellow must have not been important enough to keep around.

**No POV**

Eion was running, jumping and sliding over and around debris on the floor to get to his sister. He could hear the sounds of the guns over the alarms as he got closer. He really didn't have much of a plan as a guideline to what he wanted to accomplish.

Unfurling his wings, he leapt up and flew close to the ground. He'd have to do this quick if he wanted to make sure they got out before the building crashed down on them. He saw the mess of flyboys first, some shooting, others dead still on the ground. Eion saw Kara next, just as she fell to her knees. "No!" he shouted, knowing it could be heard over the alarms and guns. He felt a bullet go past him and knew that at least for that moment, she had dropped the shields. He tried to fly faster, get to her and make sure she was okay.

Eion kept his eyes trained on her, and he saw the moment when she closed her eyes and surrendered. He caught her just before she hit the ground.

And then everything came falling down.

Making sure she was in his arms, Eion flew. He dived and avoided falling concrete as he flew upwards towards safety, praying the generators hadn't kicked in and they were going to be trapped. He could see the sunlight as he flew higher, trying hard not to get hit by anything. But that didn't mean he didn't get hit. A part of his wing had been hit, making it harder to fly with Kara in his arms, but somehow he managed to do it.

"Eion!" That voice made him turn his head and he saw Cole not too far from him. It was then that he realized that he had made it out.

"Did everyone make it out?" Eion asked, as he followed Cole away from the smoke and mayhem. Away from the devil's place, or what remained of it. Cole just nodded. The adrenaline that had been flowing was starting to quell and Eion felt the exhaustion start to come in. "We have to get down," he told Streak as he looked around for a safe place to land. They were far enough away that they would be safe, for the moment anyway.

"There's a cave here," Cole said, swopping downwards with Eion at his tail. "Everyone's two miles west of it, but it's safe."

Safe. The word was somehow comforting to both boys as the touched down at the mouth of the cave. They weren't truly safe, but they were out of the woods for the moment. Sure, they were bruised and broken, but they knew that everyone was finally together. That they would heal, move on and be safe for a little while longer.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter: 40

**Kara's POV**

I woke up to the sound of my name, being repeated over and over and over again. For a moment, I had forgotten everything that had happened and thought I was just sleeping in some cave, being awoken by hungry people.

To a point, I was correct. I opened my eyes, only to shut them immediately. The brightness of the sun was too much for me. "She's awake!" I heard someone yell, rather loudly. I heard movement and talking, but all I could think of was sitting up because the ground was rather uncomfortable to sleep on. As I moved to sit up, I stopped; the sensation that I was going to puke too powerful. Not to mention that I was sore pretty much everywhere.

"Take it easy," I heard someone familiar say softly next to me. I opened my eyes slowly to see Cole looking down at me. As in I could actually all of Cole's face since his hair was pulled away from his face. It surprised me more than the fact that his hair was all wet.

"Cole?" I asked, confused slightly as he helped me sit up. There was a look of relief on his face as he handed me a water bottle.

"Of course. Don't drink it too quickly; it should help with the vertigo." I took the water bottle, feeling the way my arm trembled from the weight of it. I was proud of myself for not dropping it right then. I did as I was told, and was surprised by how refreshing it was to drink it. I hadn't realized my throat was so dry or how thirsty I was.

I felt someone else kneel down beside me and I turned my head to see a pair of worried, green eyes so similar to mine. "Eion," I started, but didn't get to finish because he had pulled me towards himself in a hug.

"Oh god I was so worried about you," he whispered in my ear, where only I could hear. I didn't say anything, just closed my eyes and took a deep breath, relishing in the fact that I wasn't dead.

Wait.

I pulled away and glared at him. "I told you not to come back." There was a soft chuckle and I turned around to see everyone else waiting at the entrance at the cave. They were all staring at Fang.

"Told you she would get mad," I heard Cole say and I turned to him and then back to Eion. All this turning was not very good for my attempts to get rid of the spinning, but I needed answers.

"As if I would ever leave you behind," Eion simply said, eye brow raised in a thoughtful way. I just sighed and leaned my head back against the cave wall.

"You're just lucky I can't beat you up right now."

That seemed to be the magic phrase or something, because at that moment, Caleb and Jinx ran at me and threw themselves on top of me. They started talking really fast and I couldn't keep up with what one person said out loud and the other said in my head.

"Woah guys calm down," Eion said, picking Caleb off me. "She just woke up."

"Kara, you've been sleeping for five days," Caleb told me, in awe. "I didn't know you could sleep that long. I don't think I've ever seen you sleep more than a couple hours."

I stared at Eion, stunned by the fact that I had slept that long. I knew it had taken me a lot of energy, but I didn't know it would take me five days before I gained enough back to even wake up.

"Oh god I'm going to be sick," I said, the thought revolting. I was never ever going to do something like that again. Ever. Okay that was probably a lie, because I would do it again if it meant everyone was safe.

Eion just smiled and handed me a granola bar. "Eat up. As soon as you're good, we're heading out."

"It's going to take more than a granola bar you know," I told him teasingly as I took it and took a bite. It was the best granola bar in the world.

"Yeah Eion," I heard Cole snicker. "She held up a whole building you know. I'm sure she could eat a whole penguin on her own," he said, referencing something from years ago. That got Jinx and Caleb laughing like crazy. I just smiled and shook my head. All of this was making me tired, but I didn't want to go back to sleep. Five days should have been more than enough.

I looked at the cave entrance and found everyone else had disappeared. I hadn't noticed when they had left, but I suppose they felt they may have been intruding upon something. I'm glad they weren't there; I didn't want to start up the conversation of how we would be splitting ways.

"I already told them," I heard Eion say, as if he was reading my mind.

"I thought Jinx was the mind reader," I told him, closing my eyes, tired again. I hated being tired. It meant I wasn't being productive.

"Hey Kara," it was Caleb's voice so I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"We're going to be okay now right?" I looked at him then at everyone else and nodded.

"Yeah, we're going to be okay now."

-Time Elapse-

Eion had filled me in on everything that had been happening during my five day nap. It turned out the building had burned to the ground, but that didn't mean they wouldn't rebuild. What it did mean, was that for now, we were safe.

After another nap, of which I made Eion swear he would wake me up after an hour, I got some real food. It was the second day and I was feeling better enough to actually move around. I was standing near the mouth of the cave, looking out into the dessert of California, wondering how in the world something like this got here and pondering where we were going to go next.

"So you're heading out?" I heard a voice say behind me and I turned around to see Maximum Ride standing there. I was surprised that we were almost in the same position: arms crossed and wings out.

"Hopefully," I told her. "It's nice that you guys stuck around, I know you might have wanted to get a move on." She shrugged and came to stand beside me. I didn't know when we were getting this move on. Eion had done a fly by early in the day and it seemed that the place was abandoned, for now, but I still wanted to get as far away from here as soon as I could. I figured something between another half a day and a day before I was well enough to fly out enough to consider myself somewhat, if not really, safe.

"Where are you going to go?"

"I'm not sure."

"Not sure or you won't tell."

"Is there really a difference Max?" I asked, turning around, wincing only slightly by the movement. My shoulder still hurt, but it was sore and not torn. Also, I did get a bruise, more than one actually. Let's just say I wasn't going to be in a bathing suit anytime soon. Not that I would be anyway.

We stood there, silently, just looking out at really nothing but sand colored stone and, well sand. Deserts tended to have a lot of that. Far above were small circling specks and I recognized them immediately. "Goshawk!" I said grinning. Max looked at me with an odd expression. "Goshawk," I said again and pointed to the dark specks. "Though I don't know what they're doing all the way out here. Those usually stay around Arizona and New Mexico."

"Oh I see them," Max said, covering her eyes with her hand to keep the sun out. "Good eye. How do you know that?"

"Eion is Goshawk," I told her. To me, that totally explained everything. To Max, it didn't. Not by the confused look on her face. "The bird DNA had to come from somewhere," I told her.

"You know what bird you are?" Max asked, her voice revealing something I couldn't point out. I nodded slowly.

"Of course, don't you?" She shook her head. "Well you should. How else are you going to understand yourself?"

"I can understand myself without that," she said, rather snidely.

"No you can't. You're four-I mean two-percent bird. As in, of your genetic makeup, two percent of that is bird. It's such a big part of you, how could you not know anything about it? Sure, you've got the basics down right, which is your anatomy. But a lot of the traits of the bird, they're your traits too. From the color of your wings to your abilities. Knowing about your bird reveals a lot about yourself." I was back looking at the birds in the sky, longing wanting to be up there with them.

"You're so…so," Max started but let it go. But I wasn't going to. I heard that tone in her voice, the disapproving one.

"So what Max? Just spit it out," I snapped at her, not really needing this at the moment.

"So accepting of it." Max finally said with a skeptical look of it. "Of what you are."

"Of **who** we are," I reiterated. "Who Max, not what. We're people you know, just like you and your flock. But we're also animal and that's not something you should be forgetting." I frowned at her, arms crossed and no doubt glaring. "If you can't accept that, then you're not really accepting a part of who you are. You're not a human with superpowers, you're a human bird. A freak by human standards, someone to be out casted. But the animal part of you is always accepted, especially by your avian brethren. You've flown with the hawks haven't you? Tell me that there isn't a part of you that knows it's where it's supposed to be."

I watched her, trying to see how she would react. I knew she wasn't getting it, the un-accepting look in her eyes told me so. Eion had told me once -before all of this had happened and we'd stumbled upon their blog- that they wouldn't understand. That by what they wrote and where they went, they weren't the same as us. It was beyond the composition of our genetic code, it was our mentality about it. "Never mind," I finally said and headed inside the cave, leaving Max there to think her crazy thoughts. My head was starting to hurt again, and I didn't really feel like having to deal with her.

I had bigger things to worry about. Like where I was going to be taking my guys next.

And what I was going to do about Iggy.

**Eion's POV**

I found my sister leaning against the cave wall, her eyes close. I knew she wasn't sleeping by the way her eyebrows were scrunched together slightly. And there was a small tension in her jaw that wasn't there when she slept. Something was bothering her, something that required her to let everyone think she was sleeping. But she was my twin sister, and not even our latest adventure could change how well I knew her.

I sat by her side and pushed her foot with my leg slightly so she'd know it was me. And without opening her eyes, she moved closer until our sides touching and her head rested on my shoulder. I put my arm against hers and linked our fingers, to make sure she was there and wasn't leaving. It was a habit I had of doing, especially after moments where I thought I'd lost her.

And it wasn't for the first time in the last couple of days, that I realized how close I had been to losing her. So I closed my own eyes and just took in her warmth, the feeling of the edge of our feathers grazing against each other, and listened to her breathing. I had to remind myself that she was actually there.

"I'm sorry," she whispered so softly that I almost missed it. "For scaring you," she squeezed my hand, trying to reassure me. Kara knew what I was doing, even though I had never told her. It was just one of those twin things.

"Don't ever do something like that again," I warned her.

"I'll try not to."

"I know you will."

"I know I will too. But I'm still sorry Eion."

And that was that. We both knew it was silly to promise that it would never happen again. Because if it came down to it, we would both sacrifice our lives for the other one, for the rest of our family. And as much as I hated the idea of my little twin sister sacrificing her life for me, it was a little comforting to know that she loved us that much. That no matter how much we went through, Kara would always be the strong one. Whenever I was lost in the sea of emotions, Kara was the pillar that helped me stay afloat.

"We can't stay here Kara," I finally told her. "The youngest two are getting restless, and Cole's having issues with the brightness of this place. He won't say it, but I can tell."

"I know," Kara sighed. "We have to leave soon. I don't want them thinking that this one big flock thing is an option." Surprised, I looked down at her and noticed how she'd opened her eyes and was staring straight ahead. I had a speech on how staying together would be a bad idea, ready to go, but it didn't seem necessary. I'd been afraid that she would want the merge, or at least think about it, but she now seemed resolved on this idea. And I was glad.

I really didn't like that Iggy fellow.

"It's about half a day's flight to a safe place," Kara continued. "I can make it that far. And then we can plan from there."

"You're thinking about leaving right now?" I asked her, knowing very well that she wasn't able to.

"Yes. I'm fine," Kara told me, determined. "Night's falling soon and the darkness will be the perfect cover we need. Besides, Cole likes fighting at night better."

"Kara," I said, trying to put in a word as she began to talk in a ramble. It only happened when she was trying to distract me from the bigger issue. The younger two hadn't quite figured out that when it happened, we should ignore her logic. Streak and I though, had been aware of it for a couple of years.

"And I know Jinx doesn't like it that much, but it'll do her some good to learn to deal with it. I mean more than once we've had to run in the middle of the night. And I doubt that's something that'll change in the future. Since we're on the topic of the future, I was thinking we could head somewhere cloudy. All this sun light is making me hate the sun and I'd rather not see it for a while."

"Kara," I said a little more forcefully. I tuned myself to her emotions, calming her down. My sister was scared, tired, and feeling like she'd failed us; nothing like the confident, strong and a little less tired girl I knew. "We both know you aren't up to such a long flight," I whispered to her, in case anyone else was listening in. "And you have not failed us. You saved us Kara, remember that. You were willing to die for us, and even though I think that's the stupidest thing ever, I still love you for it. The others love you Kara, they're worried about you because you could have died. If you need a couple days to recover, then we'll sit tight. They'll deal with it as long as it means you get better."

"I don't want them to deal with it," Kara whispered back. "I want to get out of here. I don't like it Eion, any of this. Being close to the site and being out in the desert, exposed. I want a real bed for once, and a shower. Damn it I would be happy with some rain. Anything but where we are right now. It's suffocating us Eion. We aren't like them, we aren't meant to hide in a cave."

I could see what she was doing; guilting me into letting us get out of there. And it really wasn't even guilt, more like she knew I would do what I could to make her happy. It was abuse of sibling love, that's what it was.

"We could cover some distance if we left tonight." A new voice had joined us and we both turned to see Streak walking towards us. Of course he would be listening in. He sat himself on Kara's other side, the less sunny side. "We wouldn't even have to go very fast," he said, trying to convince me. This uncharacteristic action of his demonstrated just how much he too wanted to leave. Like Kara, he was scared. He didn't feel safe being this close to the place that could have killed us. The place that enhanced his night vision exponentially so it would be like it was daylight; but left him color blind and super sensitive to the sun during the day. It was why he sat so close to Kara, reassuring himself that both of them were alive. "We can stop and break whenever Kara feels tired," he supplemented, knowing my argument before I even said it.

"Come on Eion, some distance is better than no distance," Kara added and I remembered one of the reasons why I let Kara be in charge of our family. Kara didn't fall so easily to others' whims.

"Fine," I finally said dejected. Honestly, those two lit up like it was Christmas morning emotionally when I agreed. So much so that it was making me feel more resolved about my choice. "Rest up guys, we leave tonight."

**No POV**

The sun that always seemed to beam brightly finally started to set on the Californian desert.

Iggy sat on the ledge of the cave, his legs hanging off the edge. The sun was setting in front of their little cave and he just sat absorbing the heat of the rays. There wasn't much he could do right now anyway. There was a ridiculous amount of people in the cave, and Max finally took the three younger kids out with her to blow some energy off. Fang was in the cave fiddling with his computer, and Iggy didn't really know nor care what everyone else was doing.

"Aren't you tired of all this heat?" A voice asked behind him. Kara stood there, watching him watch the sun.

"It's too crowded in the cave," Iggy said without turning around to face her. They hadn't spoken since the ceiling had started to fall on them. And honestly, he didn't know if he wanted to talk to her. He'd been worried when five days had passed and she hadn't woken up. But now it was almost a whole day later and she hadn't even asked about him. Iggy was mad at her. Not a lot, but enough to want to talk to her at the moment. Mad that she'd put herself in that kind of danger without thinking of the consequences, hadn't thought about herself. It was the same thing Max always trying to do. And it bothered the hell out of him. He was blind, that didn't mean he needed people to sacrifice themselves for him.

Kara could see that Iggy was bothered. And it didn't take an emotion sensor like Eion to figure out why. Knowing she had to fix it, she walked to his right side and made the painful process to sit down next to him. The pain in her left side was still there, and indeed there was a huge bruise that ran the length of her torso. It made sitting down a difficult task.

Iggy reached up, finding her hand and guided her down beside him slowly. "I would have stood if I'd known your side still hurt," he told her quietly, his hand lingering with hers.

"It's just a bruise," Kara told him. "Nothing to get worked up about." Iggy gave her a look and let her hand go. He lightly placed his fingers against her ribs and felt her flinch slightly. He moved his fingers upwards, counting her ribs as he went, each time feeling how she tried hard not to flinch under his touch.

"Kara," he started as he moved his down, feeling the extent of how big this bruise actually was.

"I know," Kara said softly, taking his hand away. "Don't tell anyone though. They're already worried enough." She held his hand and looked at the setting sun. There were moments, like this, that made her feel sorry for Streak and Iggy. Neither one of them could taken in and appreciate a sunset like this. "I'm sorry Iggy," she finally told him, turning his direction.

"What are you sorry for Kara?" he asked, turning towards her. It was another one of those moments when he wished he wasn't blind. Iggy wanted to look at her, see her face, try and figure out how she felt. He wanted to read her eyes, her expressions, not just her body movement.

"That I didn't come find you sooner," Kara told him, unaware that his anger was also directed at her actions. It was something she expected from Eion, but not from Iggy. Iggy just looked at her, in that way that made it seem that he wasn't' actually blind. And the next thing Kara knew, they were kissing. She wasn't sure who had made the first move, but she was definitely sure they were both kissing back.

This kiss was different for both of them. Iggy was harsher, still mad at her. Kara's was more receptive, remembering the feel of his lips against hers. And then he stopped, his breathing slightly ragged. He'd noticed her kiss. "You're leaving," he said simply.

"We're leaving Iggy," Kara confirmed him after a pause. "My flock and I. It's time for us to part ways"

Iggy frowned, his eyebrows scrunching together. He thought she was going to apologize for acting without thinking about herself. Or him. Suddenly Eion's words echoed through his mind.

_She doesn't need you or your flock._

"It's for the best," Kara continued. "Our flocks, they don't mesh well. Sure, you get along with Caleb. Fang gets along with Streak. Nudge and Jinx feel like they're long lost twins, but that's where it ends. Eion hates everyone. I'm pretty sure Max hates me. Streak has issues with your flying schedule and Jinx is annoyed by Angel. I think the only one who doesn't have an issue with anyone is Gazzy."

"And there's us," Iggy pointed out, kicking his feet against the mountain wall.

"But there really isn't an us, is there Igs?" Kara asked, knowing well what she was doing. In her mind, it had to be done. She didn't need a reason for him to follow or keep looking for her. She didn't want him to have false hope. "I mean, you know we can't be anything but this, right Iggy?" she asked, bringing one knee to her chest as she hugged it. "We're not the same Iggy. Max knows that; she judges us for it. We can't get past whatever it is we're doing."

"So, it's not me, it's you?" Iggy asked bitterly, unable to really understand what was happening.

"Actually, it is you." Kara told him as she managed to stand slowly. "It's both of us. So try not to take it personally."

"It's done?" Eion asked when he found his sister later in the back of the cave.

Kara sat against the cavern wall, her head in the crook of her elbow which she'd propped up with her knees. She turned it slightly upward, so one eye was visible. "It's done," she told him with a sigh.

"You know it's for the best. Don't need to give them a reason to look for us," Eion pointed out.

"I know Eion," Kara said, irritated because it wasn't the first time he'd said that to her. In the last hour. She loved her brother, but he got on her nerves so much sometimes. He should be grateful the shoulder of her swinging arm still hurt.

Eion crouched down in front of her, assuming her irritation was coming from her pain not because of him. "You sure you can make the flight tonight?" he asked, concerned. He moved his hand under her arm, checking her temp.

"Eion I'm fine," Kara said pushing his hand away. "You have everything ready don't you?" she asked. Kara definitely wanted to leave tonight. She did not want to have to face Iggy tomorrow after what she said. It wasn't super harsh, but it was kind of insensitive. Actually it had been very insensitive and she was starting to believe Eion had a part in it. Because truth was, she was going to miss the guy. She was going to miss everyone, well except maybe Max. Fang had really helped out in there, and anyone who helped her flock was good with her.

"Packs are good. Cole and I have yours split between the two of us. No need for that extra weight until you're one hundred percent back, got it?" he asked in that no nonsense tone of his.

"People are going to start thinking you're in charge," Kara muttered before agreeing to his terms. She wanted out, and this was the only way to get out quickly.

And now the only thing in the way was time.

"Ouch," Caleb whispered softly as he ran into Jinx in the dark. "You stopped."

For about the third time in the last ten minutes, Kara put her finger to her lips and asked him to be quiet. The last thing they need was for one of the other's to wake up.

"Come here kid," Eion held out his hand and lead the still sleepy Caleb to his side. He gave Kara a look, as if it were her fault the youngest flock member had fallen asleep on the wrong side of the cave. She flipped him the bird instead.

"Someone's grumpy for missing their nap," Cole whispered in her ear. Unlike the rest of them, he wasn't having an issue seeing in the dark. Quite the opposite: he saw everything as clear as day. And he was having fun watching them struggle.

_For having to sneak out quietly, you guys aren't very quiet_ Jinx said to their minds as she neared the entrance of the cave and stood beside Eion and Caleb.

The moon was a little less than half way through its cycle, and the stars were brightly doting the sky. And the temperature was much cooler. Chilly even. Kara took a deep breath in of the Californian desert air and let it out slowly. Grinning slightly, she motioned for them to get a move on out. A wide smile spread across Jinx's face as she let herself fall of the edge before unfurling her wings and shooting upward. Caleb and Eion were next, mostly because if you didn't keep an eye on Caleb when he was tired, he was bound to forget he was flying and fall back asleep.

"Leaving so soon?" Fang asked, stepping out of the shadows.

"When you got to go, you got to go," Kara told him, hands on her hips. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

"Like Max would just leave you to guard," Fang pointed out. Unlike his fearless leader, Fang didn't have an issue with them. A part of him understood, and the other part just accepted that he was never really going to understand. "Where you headed?"

"South for the winter," Kara grinned, knowing very well that was exactly where they weren't headed. And Fang knew it too.

"Because the sunny beaches and I get along so well," Streak said sarcastically. Under the moon, the streak in his hair almost seemed to glow. "Later man. Nice fighting ya." And the two guys fist bumped before Streak took off into the night sky.

"You guys ever need anything," Fang started.

"I'll comment on your blog," Kara finished. They were quiet for a moment. "Tell Iggy I'm sorry. I really am," she added. "But we both know it's the right thing."

"I warned him you'd be trouble," Fang told her. "But I'll let him know. And good luck finding your missing member. I hope she got out of New York okay."

"Me too," Kara said before she stuck out her hand for him to shake. "It was nice meeting ya," she said. "Hope to never be stuck anywhere with you again." Fang chuckled and shook. He stepped back as she stretched out her wings slowly. It probably would have been a good idea to test try them before a long flight. Or at least stretch out before then. With a salute, Kara fell backwards off the cliff. The wind rushed through the feather of her wings and she smiled at the feeling. Her muscles moved, remembering the freedom of flying as she flew upward towards her awaiting family.

"You good?" Cole asked when she reached them.

"Let's blow this place," Kara smiled as she looked at each member of her flock. There was big brother Eion, dark and mysterious Cole, funny little Jinx and her baby boy Caleb. And even though they were missing one, Kara felt at peace with her family. The five of them were not invincible, but at least they were together. She had them all back within arm's length and for now they were safe. For now they were at peace.

And that was exactly where she wanted to be.

* * *

**A/N: **AND WE ARE DONE!

Oh my gosh this is it! It's finally finished! My entire high school career and this story has finally come to an end! I know guys!

Like always, super sorry for the super long wait but it's finally up and posted. The ending to this fanfiction.

I would love to thank the following people who took the time and commented and/or followed this story since the beginning. It was for you guys that I've spent the last day and a half typing, editing and retyping the final chapter. You guys kept wanting more and I finally brought it to you! And these gracious people are:

**Jessa6577, Kara, Reader, BlindPyroLove, kierra, WolfKidBirdGirl, randommonium135, happy unicorn, all anonymous messages, Thexinfernalxgames, SilverStar121, star1321, fireman12468, Wing of a Falcon, lilcook2258. And all of those who will comment, like, or flame this after it's published. Not to mention anyone who has even gotten past the first sentence of chapter 1! You guys are awesome!**

And I close with this disclosure:

All of James Patterson's characters/property belongs rightfully to him. All of my character's belong to me.

And just because their adventure with me is over, that does not mean their story is over. I've had anonymous requests for the lending of my characters, and send me a pm/comment with a link as to when you do borrow them. AND CREDIT ME PLEASE BY SHARING THEIR ORIGINAL STORY! :D

As always, reviews/comments are loved. Don't want to be taken by those whitecoats for not doing so, do you?


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